UC-NRLF 


BERKELEY^ 

LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 


JCAHQH  LIBS, 


/* 


PRINCE  ARTHUR  AND   HUBERT.    (See  page  72.) 
From  a  photograph  of  a  painting  by  Yeames. 


STORIES 


FROM 


ENGLISH    HISTORY 


FROM    THE    EARLIEST   TIMES  TO    THE 
PRESENT   DAY 


EDITED  FOR  SCHOOL  AND  HOME  USE 

BY 

ALBERT   F.  BLAISDELL 

AUTHOR  OF  "  FIRST  STEPS  IN  THE  ENGLISH  CLASSICS,"   "READINGS  FR'OM  THE 
WAVERLEY  NOVELS,"  "  STORIES  OF  THE  CIVIL  WAR,"  ETC. 

JOHN  S.  PRELL 

Civil  &  Mechanical  Engineer. 

SAN  FKANCISCO,  GAL. 


BOSTON,  U.S.A.,  AND  LONDON 
GINN    &    COMPANY,   PUBLISHERS 


1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1897 
BY    GINN  &   COMPANY 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


25- 


EDUC. 
UBRARY 


PREFACE. 

JOHN  3.  PRELL 

Qdl  &  Mechanical  Engineer. 

THIS  is  a^xrcfk  oritOTTes rVtom  i^glish  history, 
edited  for  school  and  home  use.  It  is  intended  to 
serve  as  a  supplementary  reading  book  for  boys  and 
girls  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  of  age.  It  consists  of 
a  series  of  dramatic  and  notable  events  in  English 
history  from  the  earliest  time  to  the  present  day,  care- 
fully compiled  and  rewritten  from  standard  .books  and 
well-known  authors. 

The  material  has  been  arranged  in  the  form  of 
stories  with  the  intent  to  arouse  a  lively  interest  in 
historical  reading  and  a  keen  desire  to  know  more 
about  the  history  of  our  mother  country. 

It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  editor  to  furnish  in  a 
readable  and  connected  form  a  useful  and  convenient 
introduction  to  more  advanced  works  for  young  folks 
on  similar  subjects,  such  as  those  written  by  Charles 
Dickens,  Charlotte  M.  Yonge,  George  M.  Towle,  A.  J. 
Church,  S.  R.  Gardiner,  and  others. 


IV  PREFACE. 

It'  is  needless  to  say  that  some  of  the  stories,  so 
far  as  historical  accuracy  is  concerned,  rest  upon  very 
slender  foundations.  Any  discussion  of  this  point 
in  a  book  of  this  kind  would  be  obviously  out  of 
place.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  one  of  the  best 
authenticated  stories  —  the  well-known  story  of  King 
Canute  and  the  rising  tide  -  -  is  one  of  the  least 
probable.  Again,  the  story  of  Queen  Philippa  and 
her  intercession  for  the  citizens  of  Calais  is  given  in 
detail  by  Froissart,  who  was  a  boy  at  the  time ;  and 
yet  there  is  good  reason  to  doubt  its  truth.  What- 
ever semi-mythical  character  may  be  attached  to  these 
and  other  familiar  stories  in  this  book  does  not  detract 
of  course  from  the  pleasure  and  instruction  which  they 
may  afford  youthful  readers. 

These  stories,  supplemented  with  various  picturesque 
anecdotes,  are  written  purposely  in  an  easy  and  famil- 
iar style  and  in  very  simple  language,  with  the  aim  to 
attract  and  hold  the  attention  of  young  pupils. 

A.  F.  B. 
APRIL,  1897. 


CONTENTS. 


STORY  PAGE 

1.  BRITAIN  IN  THE  OLD   DAYS     ....  i 

2.  How  THE  ROMANS  CAME  TO  BRITAIN  ...  .6 

3.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  CAPTIVE  KING          .        .        .  9 

4.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  BRAVE  WARRIOR  QUEEN    .        *        .        13 

5.  THE  COMING  OF  THE  ENGLISH         .  .17 

6.  How  THE  ENGLISH  BECAME  CHRISTIANS      ....         22 

7.  How  THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PEOPLE  LIVED  .  ...     27 

8.  How  KING  ALFRED  RULED  ENGLAND.         .        .         .         .31 

9.  How  A  DANE  CAME  TO  BE  KING  OF'  ENGLAND      ...         .38 
10.  KING  CANUTE,  THE  DANE     ....                                  43 
n.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  NORMAN  CONQUEST        .        .         .         -47 

12.  THE  DEATH  OF  THE  RED  KING 53 

13.  THE  Loss  OF  THE  "WHITE  SHIP" 57 

14.  THE  NORMANS  AND  HOW  THEY  LIVED         ....        62 

15.  RICHARD  THE  LION-HEARTED 66 

1 6.  THE  SAD  STORY  OF  LITTLE  PRINCE  ARTHUR     ...         72 

17.  THE  BLACK  PRINCE  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  CRECY    .         .         -78 

1 8.  THE  GOOD  QUEEN  AND  THE  BRAVE  CITIZENS    ...         83 

19.  How  WAT  TYLERV  LED  A  REVOLT  OF  THE  COMMON  PEOPLE     88 

20.  PRINCE  HAL  AND  THE  GREAT  VICTORY  OF  AGINCOURT        .     92 

21.  BRAVE  KNIGHTS  AND  HOW  THEY  FOUGHT  IN   OLDEN  TIMES      96 

22.  QUEEN  MARGARET  AND  THE  ROBBER  .         .         .         .         .       101 

23.  THE  PRINCES  IN  THE  TOWER 105 


VI  CONTENTS, 

STORY  PAGE 

24.  THE  FIRST  ENGLISH  PRINTER          .  ...  109 

25.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  "INVINCIBLE  ARMADA"      .        .        .       112 

26.  Two  FAMOUS  MEN  WHO    LIVED  IN   THE  DAYS  OF    QUEEN 

ELIZABETH .         .         .118 

27.  DEATH  OF  CHARLES  THE  FIRST 125 

28.  How    KING    CHARLES   THE   SECOND   ESCAPED   FROM    HIS 

ENEMIES 130 

29.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  GREAT  PLAGUE  IN  LONDON        .        .       135 

30.  THE  GREAT  FIRE  OF  LONDON 139 

31.  THE  FLIGHT  OF  JAMES  THE  SECOND 142 

32.  THE  FAMOUS  SIEGE  OF  LONDONDERRY  .  .         .145 

33.  BONNIE  PRINCE  CHARLIE'S  ESCAPE     .         .  .       149 

34.  THE  BLACK  HOLE  OF  CALCUTTA     .  .154 

35.  THE  BRAVE  LORD  NELSON  .  .                                 157 

36.  THE  IRON  DUKE  AND  THE  BATTLE  OF  WATERLOO        .         .   161 

37.  Two  GREAT  INVENTORS .165 

38.  How  VICTORIA  BECAME  QUEEN  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN      .         .170 

39.  How  THEY  FOUGHT  IN  THE  CRIMEA 175 

40.  THE  MUTINY  IN  INDIA     ...  .  179 

41.  BRITAIN,  THEN  AND  NOW      .  .18? 

SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES 187 


STORIES 


FROM 


ENGLISH    HISTORY 


STORIES  FROM  ENGLISH   HISTORY. 


1.     BRITAIN    IN    THE    OLD    DAYS. 

Before  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

ALONG,  long  time  ago,  before  the  English  came  to 
live  in  England,  the  country  was  called  Britain, 
and  the  people  who  then  lived  in  it  were  called  Britons. 

Now  you  must  know,  and  keep  in  mind,  that  Britain 
in  the  old  days  did  not  look  as  England  does  now ;  and 
that  the  old  Britons  did  not  live  like  the  English  people 
of  our  day,  or  dress  like  them,  or  speak  as  they  speak. 

I  am  going  to  tell  you  about  people  who  lived  two 
thousand  years  ago.  Think  what  a  long  time  that  is,  — 
a  hundred  years  before  Christ  was  born! 

Now,  if  you  had  been  living  in  England  two  thousand 
years  ago,  what  would  you  have  seen  ?  I  am  sure  you 
cannot  tell  me,  so  I  will  tell  you.  You  would  have  seen 
the  same  hills  that  are  to  be  seen  to-day,  and  the  same 
valleys,  and  rivers,  and  lakes.  But  little  else  would 
have  been  as  it  is  now. 

You  would  have  seen  no  busy  towns,  no  quiet,  cozy 
villages,  with  their  church  spires  peeping  out  above  the 
trees,  no  farms,  no  orchards  or  gardens,  no  paved  streets, 


2  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

no  steam  or  electric  cars,  no  big  cotton  mills,  and  no 
network  of  telegraph  wires. 

But  instead  you  would  have  seen  great  dark  forests 
spreading  far  and  wide,  where  the  wolf  and  the  bear  had 
their  dens  ;  and  broad,  still  pools  where  the  land  was 
low ;  and  patches  of  open  country  that  the  plough  had 
never  broken. 

Here  and  there  you  might  have  seen  a  number  of 
huts  made  of  wickerwork  and  mud,  with  no  windows 
—  with  only  a  hole  at  the  top  to  let  out  the  smoke. 
They  were  built  on  the  edge  of  some  forest,  with  a  ditch 
dug  round  them,  or  trunks  of  trees  piled  up  in  front  of 
them  to  keep  out  the  wild  beasts.  All  the  towns  they 
had  were  only  clusters  of  such  huts. 

And  how  did  the  people  look,  you  will  ask,  in  those 
dim,  long-past  ages?  Well,  they  were  tall  and  fair;  they 
had  blue  eyes  and  long  yellow  hair.  But  they  looked 
like  savages,  and  lived  like  savages.  They  did  not 
know  how  to  read  or  write.  Most  of  them  went  half- 
naked,  with  only  the  skins  of  wild  beasts  about  them ; 
and  they  stained  their  faces,  arms,  and  breasts  with  a 
blue  dye  to  make  themselves  look  fierce. 

They  made  no  coins,  but  used  metal  rings  for  money. 
They  were  clever  in  basket  work,  as  savage  people  often 
are  ;  and  they  could  make  a  coarse  kind  of  cloth,  but 
their  earthenware  was  very  poor. 

For  boats  they  had  "  coracles,"  or  basket-boats,  made 
of  twisted  twigs  and  covered  with  the  skins  of  animals. 


BRITAIN    IN    THE    OLD    DAYS. 


In  these  they  paddled  along  the  rivers  to  catch  fish. 
They  killed  the  fish  with  spears  made  of  wood,  or  else 
caught  them  with  hooks  made  of  bone.  Many  of  their 
boats  were  so  light  that  a  man,  or  even  a  boy,  could 
carry  one  home  on  his  back. 

Many  of  the  old  Britons  were  hunters,  who  lived  on 
the  animals  .  .„,, 

they  slew, 
and  on  the 
wild  fruits 
that  grew  in 
the  woods. 
Some  of 
them  were 
herdsmen, 
who  lived 
mostly  on 
milk  and 
the  flesh  of 
their  cattle. 
A  few,  who 

dwelt  in  the  south  and  were  less  savage,  tilled  little 
patches  of  grain,  and  traded  with  merchants  who  now 
and  then  came  over  from  lands  beyond  the  seas. 

They  made  swords  of  copper  mixed  with  tin  ;  but 
these  swords  were  of  an  awkward  shape,  and  so  soft 
that  a  heavy  blow  would  bend  them.  The  Britons 
made  light  shields,  short  pointed  daggers,  and  spears. 


ANCIENT   BRITON    IN    HIS   CORACLE. 


4  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

After  they  had  thrown  daggers  and  spears  at  an  enemy, 
they  jerked  them  back  with  a  long  strip  of  leather 
fastened  to  the  shaft.  At  the  butt  end  of  the  spear 
or  dagger  was  a  rattle  which  the  warrior  used  to 
frighten  an  enemy's  horse. 

The  ancient  Britons,  being  divided  into  as  many  as 
thirty  or  forty  tribes,  each  with  its  own  little  king,  were 
constantly  fighting  with  one  another,  as  savage  people 
usually  do. 

They  were  very  fond  of  horses.  They  could  break 
them  in  and  manage  them  wonderfully  well.  They 
were  also  very  clever  in  making  war-chariots.  These 
chariots  had  a  large,  sharp-curved  scythe  fastened  to 
the  axle  of  each  wheel,  and  made  much  havoc  when 
driven  into  the  thick  of  the  fight. 

While  at  full  speed,  the  horses  would  stop  at  the 
driver's  word.  The  men  within  would  leap  out,  deal 
blows  about  them  with  their  swords,  leap  on  the  horses 
or  upon  the  pole,  spring  back  into  the  chariots,  and,  as 
soon  as  they  were  safe,  the  horses  would  tear  away  again. 

I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  these  old  Britons  did 
not  know  the  true  God.  They  used  to  worship  the 
sun  and  the  moon,  and  held  sacred  the  mistletoe  that 
grows  on  the  oak  tree.  Their  priests,  who  were  called 
Druids,  used  to  teach  them  that  their  souls,  when  they 
died,  would  go  into  the  bodies  of  beasts  ;  and  that  it  was 
right,  and  pleasing  to  their  gods,  to  burn  their  enemies 
whom  they  took  in  battle. 


BRITAIN    IN    THE    OLD    DAYS.  5 

These  Druids  had  very  great  power  among  the 
people.  They  settled  all  disputes,  and  if  any  man 
refused  to  obey  their  orders,  he  was  treated  as  an  out- 
cast from  the  tribe.  The  Druids  carried  on  their  wor- 
ship in  the  gloomy  shade  of  oak  groves.  Sometimes 
they  put  to  death  great  numbers  of  men  and  women, 
as  a  religious  offering  to  their  gods. 

These  Druids  had  great  regard  for  the  mistletoe. 
When  this  plant  was  found  growing  upon  an  oak  tree, 
the  chief  Druid  called  all  the  tribe  together  on  the  first 
day  of  the  new  year,  and  with  much  show  cut  down  the 
plant  with  a  golden  sickle.  The  mistletoe  was  then 
given  away  in  pieces,  to  be  taken  home  as  a  lucky 
charm  for  the  new  year. 

At  Christmas  time  we  still  like  to  place  this  plant 
in  our  houses,  and  in  this  way  we  are  put  in  mind, 
when  the  glad  holiday  comes,  of  this  old  custom  of  the 
Druids.  But  the  mistletoe  has  a  better  meaning  for 
us.  Living  and  bearing  fruit  in  winter,  when  other 
plants  seem  dead,  it  reminds  us  of  the  life  that  neither 
winter  nor  time  can  kill. 


2.     HOW   THE   ROMANS   CAME   TO  BRITAIN. 

55  Years  before  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

ONE  bright  morning  in  summer,  in  the  old  days 
we  have  been  speaking  of,  a  great  crowd  of 
Britons  stood  on  the  white  chalk  cliffs  of  Kent.  Every 
now  and  then  they  looked  across  the  narrow  seas 
towards  France,  or  Gaul,  as  it  was  called  at  that  time. 

It  was  plain  that  they  were  making  ready  for  a  battle. 
Every  man  was  half-naked,  his  breast  and  arms  and 
face  painted  with  new  war-paint,  and  a  weapon  of  some 
sort  in  his  hand.  Some  had  clubs,  some  had  spears, 
some  had  flint-headed  darts  to  throw  at  their  foes,  and  a 
few  of  them  had  long  blunt  swords  and  round  shields 
of  basket  work  with  which  to  guard  their  bodies. 

Most  of  them  were  on  foot,  but  a  few  rode  on  horse- 
back ;  and  there  were  some  who  stood  up  in  low 
wooden  chariots  drawn  by  two  horses.  These  war- 
chariots,  you  will  remember,  had  a  sharp  scythe  fast- 
ened to  the  axle  of  each  wheel,  which  cut  down  men 
as  a  mower  cuts  down  grass. 

But  why  were  the  Britons  standing  on  the  cliffs  this 
bright  summer  morning?  Why  did  they  keep  looking 
over  the  sea  toward  Gaul  ?  Let  me  tell  you.  A  vessel 
had  come  in  with  the  startling  news  that  a  Roman 
army,  which  had  been  fighting  against  the  Gauls,  was 
coming  across  the  sea  to  conquer  Britain. 


HOW    THE    ROMANS    CAME    TO    BRITAIN.  / 

The  news  roused  the  country  like  a  trumpet  blast. 
Julius  Caesar,  a  brave  and  skillful  general,  who  had  con- 
quered wherever  he  fought  —  Caesar  was  coming  to 
invade  Britain  ! 

Men  sprang  to  their  horses.  Through  the  forests 
and  over  the  hills,  from  one  hamlet  to  another,  they 
rode  shouting  their  war-cry  and  calling  the  people  to 
arms.  Before  long  not  a  man  was  to  be  seen  in  the 
grainfields.  The  women  and  children  stayed  at  home 
and  took  care  of  the  cattle. 

The  news  which  the  vessel  had  brought  was  indeed 
true.  The  Britons  soon  spied,  far  out  at  sea,  a  number 
of  black  specks  that  looked,  at  first,  like  a  flock  of  sea- 
gulls. But  as  they  came  nearer  and  nearer,  the  Britons 
saw  that  they  were  Roman  ships,  full  of  Roman  sol- 
diers, whose  bright  brass  helmets  and  brass  breast- 
plates flashed  in  the  summer  sun. 

Before  the  prows  of  the  Roman  ships  could  touch 
the  beach,  the  Britons  dashed  into  the  sea,  and  with 
savage  war-shouts  flung  their  darts  at  the  Romans. 
For  a  while  the  Romans,  though  brave  and  fearless, 
dared  not  leave  their  ships.  But  at  last  a  soldier 
who  carried  the  Roman  standard  —  a  small  golden 
eagle  on  a  staff  —  leaped  into  the  waves,  and  called  out 
to  his  comrades,  "  Follow  me  !  " 

Then  the  Romans  leaped  into  the  sea ;  for  no 
Roman  soldier  dared  to  leave  the  eagle  in  the  hands 
of  the  foe,  or  he  would  be  put  to  death  in  his  own 


8  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

land.  Grasping  their  short,  sharp  swords,  and  raising 
their  great  shields  to  keep  off  the  darts,  they  rushed  in  a 
long,  solid  line  up  the  beach. 

The  poor,  naked  savages  fought  like  lions,  but  they 
were  no  match  for  the  brave  and  well-drilled  soldiers 
of  Rome.  Before  the  close  of  that  summer  day,  the 
sand  on  the  sea  beach  was  strewn  with  the  dead  and 
the  dying;  the  Britons  had  been  driven  back  to  their 
woods.  But  they  were  not  yet  beaten. 

Frpm  their  forest  homes  they  watched  the  enemy  ; 
and,  fighting  in  war-chariots,  on  horseback  or  on  foot, 
they  constantly  cut  off  small  parties  and  lonely  camps. 
If  armies  fought,  the  dreaded  chariots  of  the  Britons 
swept  like  the  rush  of  a  torrent  through  .the  Roman 
ranks,  leaving  behind  them  a  path  of  dead  bodies. 
Once,  when  some  Roman  soldiers  went  out  to  reap 
grain,  the  Britons  fell  upon  them  so  suddenly  that  few 
escaped. 

Caesar  had  to  bring  over  more  soldiers  an-d  fight 
many  more  battles,  before  the  Britons  gave  in,  and  were 
forced  to  call  the  Romans  their  masters.  It  was  agreed 
that  the  Britons  should  pay  a  yearly  sum  of  money  to 
Caesar. 

Soon  after  Caesar  went  back  to  Gaul,  very  glad, 
no  doubt,  to  leave  a  country  where  little  was  to  be 
had,  except  by  hard  fighting.  He  never  came  back  to 
Britain,  but  after  this  time  the  island  became  much 
better  known  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 


3.     THE    STORY   OF  THE   CAPTIVE   KING. 

50  Years  after  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

WE  have  seen  that  Caesar  soon  went  away  from 
Britain.  Almost  a  hundred  years  after,  the 
Romans  came  again  with  ships  and  with  a  great 
number  of  soldiers.  Again  the  Britons  fought  bravely 
for  their  country. 

Among  the  British  chiefs  in  those  days,  one  stands 
out  in  fame  above  all  the  rest.  His  name  was  Caracta- 
cus.  He  was  a  brave  warrior,  and  he  dearly  loved  his 
country.  His  bravery,  skill,  and  courage  were  talked 
about  all  over  the  island,  and  his  fame  reached  even 
as  far  as  the  city  of  Rome  itself. 

The  Romans  hoped  to  kill  him  in  battle,  or  to  take 
him  prisoner,  for  they  knew  that  while  he  was  alive 
and  free,  the  conquest  of  the  land  would  not  be  easy. 
For  nine  long  years  he  struggled  against  the  Romans, 
and  gave  them  blow  for  blow ;  but  he  was  driven  back 
at  last  into  the  hill  country  of  the  west. 

There  is  a  high  hill  in  the  west  of  England  with  a 
swift  river  flowing  at  its  foot,  which  the  people  to  this 
day  call  "  The  Camp  of  Caractacus."  Here  the  brave 
chief  fought  his  last  battle.  One  day  his  little  band  of 
Britons  —  all  that  was  now  left  to  him  —  was  standing 
on  this  hill,  when  they  saw  a  great  Roman  army  march- 
ing up  the  valley.  The  Romans  were  ten  to  one ;  but 


IO  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

the  British  king  drew  up  his  men  behind  walls  of  earth 
and  loose  stones,  and  called  on  them  to  defend  their 
homes  and  their  native  land  with  the  last  drop  of 
their  blood,  "Conquer  the  Romans,"  he  cried,  "or 
they  will  make  you  slaves." 

The  Romans  came  up,  dashed  across  the  river,  and 
made  a  rush. up  the  hillside.  The  Britons  flung  their 
darts  at  them  as  they  came  on.  But  the  Roman  sol- 
diers lifted  their  shields  above  their  heads,  and  put 
them  side  by  side,  making  a  sort  of  a  roof  of  them ; 
so  that  the  darts  struck  the  shields  and  bounded  off, 
as  you  have  sometimes  seen  the  hailstones  bound  off  a 
roof  in  a  pelting  storm. 

There  was  a  fierce  hand-to-hand  fight  on  the  hilltop, 
but  it  was  soon  over.  The  blunt  swords  of  the  Britons 
were  useless  against  the  brass  armor  and  the  shields 
of  the  Romans,  who  thrust  their  sharp  steel  blades 
into  the  half-naked  bodies  of  their  enemies,  stabbing 
them  through  and  through. 

The  Britons  were  beaten,  and  the  heroic  chief  and 
his  wife  and  daughter  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans. 
Then  they  were  put  in  chains  and  sent  to  Rome  as 
captives.  It  was  a  custom  of  the  Romans,  when  they 
took  noble  captives  in  battle,  to  lead  them  through  their 
city,  and  make  a  great  show  of  them  in  long  procession 
before  putting  them  to  death. 

So  the  British  king  with  a  train  of  captives,  was 
led  in  triumph  through  the  streets  of  Rome.  People 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    CAPTIVE    KING. 


II 


crowded  the  streets  and  windows  and  housetops  to 
catch  a  sight  of  him,  for  all  of  them  had  heard  of  the 
tall  blue-eyed  savage  who  had  beaten  the  best  soldiers 
of  Rome  in  many  a  hard-fought  battle. 


CARACTACUS  AND   HIS  WIFE   BEFORE  THE  ROMAN   EMPEROR. 

When  the  proud  captive  king  saw  marble  temples 
and  rich  palaces  on  every  side  of  him,  he  could  not  help 
saying,  "  Why  should  these  Romans,  who  have  such 


12  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

grand  houses  at  home,  wish  to  rob  me  of  my  lowly 
hut  in  Briton  ?  " 

The  captives  were  led  before  the  ruler  of  the  Romans, 
the  Emperor  Claudius,  who  sat  on  his  throne  in  the 
open  air;  and,  as  they  came  near  him,  they  lifted  up 
their  chained  hands  and  wept  and  cried  aloud  for 
mercy,  —  all  but  Caractacus.  He  stood  erect;  and  no 
proud  Roman  in  the  crowd  around  the  throne  looked 
more  fearless  than  he. 

"Briton,"  said  the  emperor  in  surprise,  "knowest 
thou  not  that  thou  must  die  ?  All  who  bear  arms 
against  Rome,  as  thou  hast  done,  are  doomed  to  death." 

"Torn  from  my  home  and  robbed  of  freedom,'1 
replied  Caractacus,  "  I  have  nothing  now  to  live  for ; 
nor  do  I  fear  death  more  here  than  on  the  field  of 
battle." 

Struck  with  his  noble  bearing,  the  emperor  made 
up  his  mind  to  grant  him  his  life. 

"  Thou  shalt  not  die,"  he  said.  "  Thou  art  free. 
Rome  is  able  to  forgive  a  brave  enemy." 

The  Roman  soldiers  at  once  struck  off  his  chains, 
and  from  that  day  Caractacus  was  free. 

Some  of  the  old  books  tell  us  that  Caractacus  went 
back  to  Britain,  and  was  made  a  prince  under  the 
Romans ;  but  nothing  more  is  really  known  about 
him  than  what  I  have  told  you.  No  one  knows 
whether  his  great  heart  broke  and  he  died  in  Rome, 
or  if  he  ever  returned  to  his  own  dear  country. 


4.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  BRAVE  WARRIOR  QUEEN. 

61  Years  after  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

IN  the  eastern  part  of  Britain  there  lived,  in  the  old 
days  of  which  I  am  telling  you,  a  British  queen 
named  Boadicea.  She  was  the  widow  of  a  king  who  had 
ruled  over  a  large  and  warlike  tribe.  The  Roman 
general  who  commanded  in  Britain  at  this  time  had 
gone  to  the  other  side  of  the  island  to  attack  the 
Druids.  In  his  place  he  left  an  officer  —  a  cruel  man 
who  hated  the  Britons. 

This  cruel  officer  tried  to  force  Boadicea  to  give  up 
her  land  to  him  ;  and,  because  she  would  not,  he  ordered 
her  to  be  publicly  beaten  with  rods.  So  the  proud 
queen  was  scourged  in  the  presence  of  the  Romans, 
and  her  two  daughters  were  also  most  cruelly  treated. 

When  Boadicea  was  set  free,  she  called  upon  the 
Britons  to  rise  and  fight  against  the  Romans.  So  they 
gathered  at  her  bidding  by  tens  of  thousands. 

Standing  in  her  chariot,  with  her  long  yellow  hair 
streaming  in  the  wind,  a  large  golden  collar  on  her 
neck,  a  loose  mantle  fastened  by  a  clasp  on  her  breast, 
she  poured  forth  fierce  and  fiery  words  to  the  warriors 
around  her. 

"  Know  you,"  she  cried,  "  what  these  bloodthirsty 
Romans  have  done  to  your  queen  ?  If  you  are  men,  you 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


will  rise  and  sweep  these  invaders  from  our  shores! 
Me,  a  Briton  queen,  they  scourged  in  the  presence  of 
their  hired  legions  —  me  they  marked  with  their  cruel 
whips  !  Rise,  Britons,  fight  for  your  queen  and  your 
homes  or  be  forever  slaves  !  " 

The  savage  Britons  answered  their  queen  with  furious 

shouts  and  with  the 
clash  of  the  swords 
and  shields.  She  led 
them  against  the  en- 
emy and  routed  the 
Roman  army  with 
great  slaughter.  Then 
she  turned  against 
three  Roman  cities, 
and  put  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  to 
the  sword.  Seventy 
thousand  of  them  were 
slain.  The  land  ran 
with  Roman  blood ; 
and  it  seemed  as  if  the  Britons  were  once  more  to  hold 
the  island  as  their  own. 

But  when  the  news  came  to  the  chief  Roman  general, 
he  hurried  back  with  his  men,  and  fell  upon  the  British 
tribes.  The  brave  but  unskilled  Britons  went  down 
before  the  short  heavy  swords  of  the  Romans  like  grain 
before  the  scythe  of  the  reaper.  Boadicea  herself,  when 


BOADICEA    LEADING    HER    SOLDIERS   TO    BATTLE. 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    BRAVE    WARRIOR    QUEEN.  15 

she  saw  all  her  hopes  gone,  and  nothing  but  a  life  of 
slavery  before  her,  took  poison  and  died,  we  are  told, 
rather  than  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  victor. 

In  spite  of  all  that  the  brave  Britons  could  do,  the 
Romans  made  themselves  masters  of  the  country.  They 
kept  many  thousands'  of  soldiers  in  it,  and  ruled  it  for 
nearly  four  hundred  years.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
they  took  away  their  officers  and  soldiers,  because  these 
were  needed  in  their  own  land.  So  Britain  once  more 
was  left  to  itself. 

Under  the  rule  of  the  Romans,  the  Britons  lost  their 
freedom;  but  they  learned  a  great  deal  from  their 
masters.  They  learned  to  build  good  houses  and  fine 
roads,  to  have  better  clothes,  and  to  live  very  much 
more  comfortably  than  they  did  before  the  Romans 
came. 

Often,  even  now,  when  men  are  digging  in  England, 
they  find  things  that  were  used  by  the  Romans  in 
these  old  times,  —  rusty  coins,  pieces  of  plate  from 
which  they  ate,  of  goblets  from  which  they  drank,  of 
pavements  on  which  they  trod.  The  wells  which  the 
Romans  dug  give  water  yet ;  and  the  roads  which  they 
made  are  highways  still. 

In  some  old  battlefields,  British  spearheads  and 
Roman  armor  have  been  found,  mingled  together  in 
decay,  as  they  fell  in  the  thick  of  the  fight.  Traces  of 
Roman  camps  overgrown  with  grass,  and  of  mounds 
that  are  the  burial-places  of  heaps  of  Britons,  are  to  be 


1 6  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

seen  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  Across  the  black 
moors,  those  dreary  plains  in  the  north  of  England, 
the  old  flattened  ridge  of  the  Roman  wall,  overrun  with 
moss  and  weeds,  still  stretches,  a  strong  ruin ;  and  the 
shepherds  and  their  dogs  lie  sleeping  on  it  as  they  tend 
their  flocks  in  the  long  summer  afternoons. 

English  oaks  have  grown  up  from  acorns,  and  with- 
ered away,  when  they  were  hundreds  of  years  old, —  and 
other  oaks  have  sprung  up  in  their  places,  and  died  too, 
centuries  old, —  since  the  fearless  captive  king  and  the 
heroic  warrior  queen  fought  so  bravely  for  their  native 
land. 


5.     THE  COMING  OF  THE  ENGLISH. 

About  450  Years  after  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

AS  I  have  told  you,  the  Romans  were  forced  at  last 
to  leave  Britain,  after  having  been  there  nearly 
four  long  centuries.  Word  was  brought  to  them  that 
hordes  of  savage  tribes  were  marching  through  their 
own  fair,  sunny  country  of  Italy,  and  that  the  proud  city 
of  Rome  itself  was  in  danger.  So  their  armies  had  to 
leave  Britain. 

In  a  short  time  there  were  no  Roman  soldiers  left 
in  any  part  of  Britain.  The  Romans  had  scarcely  gone 
away  from  the  country  when  their  enemies  wished  they 
had  never  left  it.  The  truth  is  these  Britons  were  not 
so  brave  as  their  fathers  had  been,  and  they  had  never 
been  taught  to  fight. 

So  when  they  were  left  to  themselves,  the  fierce,  wild 
tribes  in  the  north,  called  Picts  and  Scots,  came  swarm- 
ing into  the  country,  burning  the  houses,  trampling 
down  the  grainfields,  and  driving  the  Britons  back  into 
the  woods. 

The  Romans  had  built  two  strong  walls  across  the 
northern  part  of  the  country.  But  as  there  were  no 
soldiers  to  man  these  walls,  they  were  no  barrier  to  the 
wild  Picts  and  the  hardy  Scots,  who  poured  over  them 
in  greater  and  greater  numbers. 


1 8  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

In  the  south,  fierce  bands  of  coast  pirates  roved  the 
seas,  now  landing  here,  now  landing  there,  and  taking 
away  with  them  grain  and  cattle,  as  much  as  their  ships 
could  hold. 

In  their  distress  the  Britons  sent  a  letter  to  their  old 
masters,  the  Romans,  asking  for  help. 

This  letter  is  called  "  the  groans  of  the  Britons."  It 
says :  "  The  barbarians  drive  us  to  the  sea,  the  sea 
drives  us  back  to  the  barbarians, — between  them  we 
are  exposed  to  two  kinds  of  death ;  we  are  either  killed 
or  drowned."  But  no  help  came  from  the  Romans ; 
they  had  their  own  troubles,  and  were  too  busy  fighting 
against  their  own  enemies.  This  led  the  Britons  to 
look  to  others  for  help. 

Now  these  bold  rovers  of  the  sea  that  I  have  just  told 
you  about  were  our  own  English  forefathers.  The 
Romans  knew  them  very  well,  and  feared  them  too. 
They  called  them  sea-wolves,  sea-dogs,  and  sea-robbers. 
They  came  from  the  forests  of  Jutland — Denmark  we 
call  it  now  —  and  from  the  German  coast  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Elbe. 

The  Britons  called  them  Saxons,  but  they,  for  the 
most  part,  called  themselves  Angles,  or  English. 

Like  the  Britons,  they  were  a  brave  and  fearless 
race,  fond  of  fighting  and  very  fond  of  the  sea.  They 
were  tall  sturdy  fellows,  with  long  yellow  hair,  blue  eyes, 
and  ruddy  faces  ;  true  as  steel  to  their  friends,  but  fierce 
and  cruel  to  their  enemies. 


THE    COMING    OF    THE    ENGLISH.  1 9 

Every  warrior  had  his  keen-pointed  dagger,  a  tall 
spear,  a  huge  battle-axe,  and  a  sharp  sword,  all  of  good 
iron.  They  had  also  bows  and  arrows,  and  some  of 
them  carried  a  large,  heavy  hammer  spiked  with  iron. 
No  helmet  was  proof  against  this  fearful  weapon.  But 
how  came  these  Angles,  or  English,  to  live  in  England, 
and  how  came  the  land  to  be  called  Angleland,  or  Eng- 
land ?  Let  me  tell  you. 

One  day  when  the  savage  Scots  were  ravaging  the 
land,  three  ships  full  of  English  warriors,  in  strong 
leather  helmets  and  coats  made  of  iron  rings,  were 
seen  cruising  off  the  coast.  When  the  British  king 
heard  of  it,  he  sent  word  to  the  sea-robbers  that  if  they 
would  land  upon  the  coast  and  help  him  drive  back 
the  Scots,  he  would  give  them  a  part  of  the  country 
called  Kent  to  live  in. 

So  the  English  warriors  came  under  their  two  chiefs, 
Hengist  and  Horsa,  and  drove  back  the  Scots,  and  set- 
tled in  England.  But  when  they  had  beaten  the  Scots, 
the  English  liked  the  country  so  well  that  they  made  up 
their  minds  to  stay,  and  so  used  their  swords  against 
the  Britons  themselves,  and  took  the  whole  of  Kent 
from  them,  and  made  Hengist  their  king. 

Let  me  now  tell  you  a  story  of  Hengist's  beautiful, 
fair-haired  daughter  whose  name  was  said  to  be  Row- 
ena.  It  was  at  a  feast  that  the  British  king  Vortigern 
saw  her.  The  lovely  girl  filled  a  bright,  golden  goblet 
with  wine,  and,  smiling  sweetly  on  the  Briton,  handed 


VORTIGERN    AND    ROWENA. 


THE    COMING    OF    THE    ENGLISH.  21 

it  to  him,  with  the  words,  "Dear  king,  I  wish  you 
health!" 

She  was  so  charming  that  Vortigern  fell  in  love 
with  her  on  the  spot,  and  wanted  to  marry  her  at  once ; 
and  he  did  marry  her.  Afterwards,  when  the  Angles 
began  to  attack  the  Britons  again  and  to  take  their 
land  from  them,  Vortigern  used  to  be  very  angry. 

But  when  he  was  going  to  punish  them,  Rowena 
begged  him  to  be  kind  to  her  people,  and  spare  them 
for  her  sake,  softly  saying,  "  Dear  king,  they  are  my 
people  !  Be  kind  to  them,  as  you  loved  that  Saxon  girl 
who  gave  you  the  golden  goblet  of  wine  at  the  feast ! " 

He  always  listened  to  her,  and  the  Angles  soon 
became  stronger  and  stronger  in  Britain,  and  gained 
more  and  more  of  Vortigern's  land.  At  last  the  poor 
British  chief  lost  his  whole  kingdom  and  was  put  in 
prison,  where  he  died. 

By  and  by  more  English  sea-kings  came  over,  landed 
in  other  parts  of  the  country,  drove  the  poor  Britons 
away,  and  settled  upon  their  lands.  In  this  way,  inch  by 
inch,  the  Britons  were  driven  back  and  back  from  east 
to  west,  till,  in  the  end,  they  had  only  the  mountains 
left  to  live  in  ;  and  there  they  have  lived  ever  since. 
The  country  they  live  in  is  now  called  Wales. 

In  a  hundred  years  after  the  landing  of  Hengist  and 
Horsa,  the  Angles,  or  English,  were  masters  of  Britain, 
and  it  has  been  called  Angleland,  or  England,  from 
that  day  to  this. 


6.     HOW  THE  ENGLISH  BECAME  CHRISTIANS. 

About  600  Years  after  the  Birth  of  Christ. 

WHEN  the  English  first  settled  in  England  they 
were  still  heathen,  and  did  not  believe  in  the  true 
God.  They  used  to  worship  the  sun  and  the  moon, 
and  other  pagan  gods,  and  even  springs  and  trees, 
the  sea  and  the  lightning. 

One  of  the  gods  was  Thor,  the  thunder  god,  whose 
hammer  they  thought  they  heard  in  the  thunder-clap. 
Another  was  Woden,  the  great  god  of  war,  who,  they 
said,  was  the  father  of  their  kings.  The  English  named 
the  days  of  the  week  after  their  gods.  Thus  Sunday 
meant  the  Sun's  day,  Monday  the  Moon's  day,  Wednes- 
day was  Woden's  day,  and  Thursday  was  the  day  of  the 
thunder  god,  Thor. 

It  was  a  strange,  wild,  warlike  sort  of  faith.  They 
thought  that  only  those  who  died  in  battle  would  be 
happy  forever  with  the  gods,  and  that  in  heaven  they 
would  hunt  or  fight  all  day,  and  have  as  much  boar's 
flesh  and  ale  as  they  could  eat  and  drink.  When 
a  chief  died  they  buried  him  in  full  armor,  and  laid 
his  sword  and  his  spear  beside  him.  They  also  slew 
his  favorite  horse  and  his  dog,  and  placed  their  bodies 
near  his,  believing  that  they  would  be  of  use  to  him 
in  the  other  world. 


HOW    THE    ENGLISH    BECAME    CHRISTIANS.  23 

One  thing  the  Saxons  loved  above  all  others,  and 
that  was  freedom.  They  did  not  give  their  chiefs 
very  great  power.  No  chief  nor  king  could  make  a  new 
law.  They  loved  justice,  and  they  set  each  man  to 
watch  every  other,  so  that  he  should  do  no  wrong. 
If  any  one  did  wrong  and  ran  away,  all  the  people  in 
each  town  had  to  pay  a  fine.  They  were  thus  sure  to 
watch  that  no  wrong-doer  escaped. 

In  the  place  of  this  worship  of  pagan  gods  was 
slowly  to  come  the  gospel  that  told  these  fierce  war- 
riors of  peace  and  good  will  to  all  mankind.  The 
mountains,  the  rivers,  and  ancient  oaks  were  soon  to 
echo  back  the  worship  of  the  true  God,  and  not  to 
remain  the  objects  of  idolatry.  I  will  now  tell  you  of  an 
incident  that  pa\*ed  the  way  for  it. 

Though  the  Saxons  loved  freedom  for  themselves, 
we  are  sorry  to  say  that,  like  most  other  people  of  their 
time,  they  had  many  slaves.  When  a  Saxon  noble  had 
more  people  on  his  land  than  he  needed,  or  more  slaves 
than  he  could  find  food  for,  he  would  take  some  of  the 
boys  and  girls  and  sell  them  as  slaves  to  the  people  of 
other  countries. 

In  this  way  English  boys  and  girls  were  sent  even 
as  far  as  Rome  to  be  sold  as  slaves.  When  they 
reached  the  Imperial  City,  they  were  taken  to  the  slave 
market  and  offered  for  sale.  Trembling  and  frightened 
the  captive  children  stood,  feeling  as  we  would  feel  if 
we  found  ourselves  in  a  strange  place  with  no  one  to 


24  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

care  for  us,  and  not  knowing  one  word  of  the  language 
the  people  around  us  were  speaking. 

One  day  sortie  English  boys  who  had  been  carried 
off  as  slaves,  were  standing  in  the  market-place  at 
Rome,  waiting  for  some  one  to  buy  them,  when  a  kind- 
hearted  monk  named  Gregory  came  walking  by.  When 
he  saw  their  sweet,  fair  faces,  their  blue  eyes,  and  their 
golden  hair,  his  heart  was  moved  with  pity  for  the 
children.  He  asked  a  keen-eyed  merchant  of  what 
nation  they  were. 

He  was  answered,  "  They  are  Angles."  "  They  should 
be  angels,"  said  Gregory,  "for  they  have  the  faces  of 
angels."  Then  he  asked  what  country  they  came  from  ; 
and  when  they  told  him,  he  said,  "  The  praises  of  God 
shall  some  day  be  sung  in  that  land."  » 

Years  went  on,  and  the  good  monk  became  the  Pope 
of  Rome  ;  but  he  did  not  forget  the  poor  slave  children. 
When  he  heard  that  an  English  king  of  Kent  had 
married  a  Christian  princess,  named  Bertha,  he  sent  a 
monk  named  Augustine,  with  forty  other  monks,  to  go 
and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  English.  The  monks 
landed  in  Kent;  then  they  sent  word  to  the  king, 
telling  him  why  they  had  come. 

King  Ethelbert  said  he  would  hear  what  they  had 
to  say,  but  he  dared  not  let  them  into  his  house  for  fear 
they  might  bewitch  him.  So  he  sat  on  his  throne 
under  an  oak  tree ;  and  the  monks,  marching  two  by 
two  over  the  green  fields,  bearing  a  silver  cross  and 


HOW    THE    ENGLISH    BECAME    CHRISTIANS. 


a  banner  of  the  Saviour,  came  before  him,  singing  as 
they  came. 

When  Ethelbert  had  heard  all  they  had  to  say  about 
the  true  God,  he  said  to  them,  "  Your  words  and  prom- 
ises seem  fair,  but  they  are  new  arid  strange  to  me,  and 
I  cannot  at  once 
give  up  the  gods 
of  my  .  fathers. 
But  you  may  stay 
in  this  land,  and 
I  will  give  you 
food  and  shelter; 
and  if  any  man 
will  believe  as 
you  believe,  I 
will  let  him." 
And  he  gave  them  his 
own  house  to  live  in ;  and  •"" 
also  gave  them  a  church  near 
it,  which  had  been  built  in  the 
time  of  the  Romans. 

So  the  monks  stayed  in  Kent, 
and  preached  the  gospel ;  and  after  a  time,  King  Ethel- 
bert and  many  of  his  people  became  Christians.  From 
Kent  the  faith  spread  and  spread ;  and  one  hundred 
years  after  the  landing  of  Augustine,  all  England  had 
become  Christian.  So  the  worship  of  Thor  and  Woden 
passed  away  ;  and  the  "  little  angels "  in  the  market- 


GREGORY  AND  THE  ENGLISH 
SLAVE-BOYS. 


26  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

place  of  Rome  thus  became  the  messengers  of  a  higher 
and  a  nobler  faith. 

We  must,  however,  remember  that  many  years  before 
the  time  of  Augustine,  soldiers  and  merchants  who 
came  from  the  Continent  began  to  introduce  Chris- 
tianity into  Britain.  Scarcely  anything  is  known  of  its 
progress  in  the  island.  There  is  no  doubt  that  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  rude  churches  were  built 
and  other  sacred  structures  were  erected,  in  which  the 
people  kept  up  a  regular  worship. 


7.     HOW   THE   OLD   ENGLISH   PEOPLE   LIVED. 

About  the  Time  of  King  Alfred. 

HOW  did  England  look  during  old  English  times  ? 
How  did  the  people  live?  Let  me  tell  you. 
The  greater  part  of  the  country  was  still  covered  with 
forests,  and  a  very  small  part  of  the  land  was  under 
cultivation.  Yet  enough  of  barley  and  wheat  seems 
to  have  been  grown  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people. 
The  forests  still  swarmed  with  wild  animals,  such  as 
the  wolf,  boar,  deer,  fox,  hare,  and  rabbit. 

At  the  head  of  the  old  English  people  stood  the 
king.  In  early  times  he  did  not  have  much  power,  but 
as  the  various  tribes  became  united  and  formed  one 
nation,  the  power  of  the  king  began  to  increase. 

To  keep  the  king  in  proper  state,  great  tracts  of  land 
were  given  to  him,  and  he  had  certain  rights  in  the 
forests,  woods,  and  mines.  When  he  traveled  with  his 
household  he  had  food  and  shelter  free  of  expense,  for 
himself  and  his  servants,  at  all  places  where  he  stopped. 

When  a  king  was  crowned,  all  the  people  above 
twelve  years  of  age  took  an  oath  to  be  obedient  to  him. 
The  king  in  turn  took  an  oath  that  he  would  treat  all 
his  subjects  with  kindness  and  justice,  whatever  their 
condition. 


28  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

The  people  were  divided  into  two  great  classes,  - 
freemen  and  slaves.  The  freemen  were  divided  into 
two  kinds.  The  first  were  men  of  the  highest  rank. 
They  were  either  descended  from  princes,  or  had  great 
property,  or  had  done  great  service  to  the  king.  These 
nobles,  when  not  at  war  with  each  other,  spent  their 
time  in  hunting  and  hawking. 

The  second  class  of  freemen  were  the  men  who  culti- 
vated the  land,  or  worked  at  trades  in  the  towns.  They 
generally  lived  on  the  lands  of  some  lord,  that  is,  a 
man  of  the  first  class.  From  these  lands  they  could  not 
remove,  nor  could  they  be  turned  away  so  long  as  they 
paid  rent. 

The  lowest  division  of  the  English  people  were 
slaves.  They  belonged  entirely  to  their  masters,  just 
as  a  horse  or  a  cow  does  at  the  present  day.  The 
master  of  a  slave  could  kill  him  if  he  liked,  and  there 
was  no  one  to  call  him  to  account.  If  a  slave  ran 
away  he  could  be  chased  like  a  wild  beast,  and  if 
caught,  flogged  to  death ;  or  if  a  woman  slave  ran  away 
she  might  be  burned  to  death. 

Sometimes  a  kindly  master  would  give  his  slaves  their 
freedom  or,  if  a  slave  could  earn  money  enough  he 
might  buy  his  freedom.  Thus  King  Alfred,  when  he 
died,  ordered  in  his  will  that  all  his  slaves  should  be 
set  free. 

The  English  slaves  had  to  watch  the  sheep  and 
cattle  and  look  after  the  large  herds  of  swine  that 


HOW  THE  OLD  ENGLISH  PEOPLE  LIVED.       29 

were  taken  to  the  forests  to  feed  upon  beechnuts  and 
acorns. 

Large  numbers  of  sheep  were  raised,  and  the  country 
exported  much  wool.  The  chief  crops  were  wheat, 
barley,  rye,  and  oats.  Orchards  were  abundant,  and 
great  numbers  of  beehives  were  kept.  A  drink  known 
as  mead  was  made  from  honey. 

The  principal  food  of  the  poor  was  bacon  and  barley 
bread.  The  rich  ate  wheaten  bread.  Fish  was  also 
largely  eaten.  From  the  fens,  or  marshy  pools,  were 
taken  an  immense  number  of  eels.  Salmon  were  plenti- 
ful in  the  rivers,  while  on  the  sea  coast  herring  were 
taken  in  large  quantities. 

In  the  houses  of  the  great  men  was  a  large  room  or 
hall,  with  a  long  table  in  the  center.  At  the  end  of  the 
hall  was  a  raised  platform  on  which  there  was  another 
table.  At  this  sat  the  lord  and  his  family,  while  the 
servants  sat  at  the  lower  table  according  to  their  rank. 

The  old  English  people  had  knives,  but  no  forks. 
Joints  of  meat  were  handed  round  on  spits,  or  iron 
rods  on  which  the  meat  was  supported  over  the  fire 
to  roast ;  and  each  person  carved  for  himself.  The 
bones  were  tossed  on  the  floor  to  the  dogs. 

The  men  were  not  only  great  eaters,  but  great  drink- 
ers, and  large  quantities  of  mead  and  ale  were  used  at 
their  feasts,  and  drunkenness  was  very  common.  In 
very  early  English  times  the  tables  in  the  halls  were 
removed  at  night,  and  the  men  slept  on  the  floor ;  but 


30  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

in  later  times  beds  were  used.  These  were  sacks  filled 
with  straw  or  other  soft  materials. 

The  houses  of  the  poor  were  built  of  mud  and 
thatched  with  straw  ;  stonework  was  used  only  in  the 
building  of  castles  and  churches. 

The  men  wore  a  shirt  and  a  kind  of  frock  which 
came  down  to  the  knee.  This  was  probably  the  origin 
of  the  smock  frock,  still  worn  in  some  of  the  country 
districts  of  England.  They  had  long  stockings  fitting 
rather  tight  to  the  legs,  leather  shoes,  and  a  belt  around 
the  waist.  Their  hair  was  long,  and  they  had  long 
beards  and  mustaches.  The  women  wore  long,  loose 
garments  which  reached  to  the  ground.  Men  and 
women  wore  necklaces,  bracelets,  and  rings.  The 
women  of  rank  were  very  clever  at  needlework,  and 
were  also  skilled  in  spinning  and  weaving  wool. 


8.     HOW  KING  ALFRED   RULED   ENGLAND. 

Born  849,  died  goi.     Reigned  30  Years. 

I  MUST  tell  you  now  of  the  good  King  Alfred,  the 
wisest,  the  bravest,  and  the  best  of  all  the  English 
kings.  I  am  sure  you  will  like  to  read  about  him, 
for  his  goodness,  wisdom,  and  bravery  earned  for  him 
the  name,  of  Great.  In  English  history  he  is  always 
known  as  King  Alfred  the  Great.  His  father  was 
King  Ethelwulf,  and  his  mother's  name  was  Osburgh. 

There  is  a  story  about  Alfred's  mother  which  you 
will  like  to  know.  The  little  prince  was  taught  to  hunt 
and  ride  and  shoot  with  bow  and  arrows  before  he  was 
taught  to  read.  But  his  mother  used  to  read  to  him 
the  old  English  songs  which  told  of  the  brave  deeds  of 
his  forefathers,  and  Alfred  loved  to  sit  at  her  feet  and 
listen  to  them. 

An  old  writer  tells  us  that  the  queen  had  a  book  of 
songs  with  beautiful  pictures  in  it,  and  letters  richly 
painted  in  gold.  One  day,  calling  her  three  boys  to 
her,  she  said,  "  I  will  give  this  pretty  book  to  the  one 
who  can  read  it  first."  "Will  you  indeed,  mother?" 
said  Alfred,  who  was  the  youngest.  "  Yes,  dear  boy, 
I  will,"  said  the  queen. 

Then  Alfred  went  at  once  and  found  a  master,  and^ 
sat  down  to  study  the  book  day  after  day,  until  he  could 


32  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

read  it  through.  So  he  won  it  as  his  prize,  and  was 
proud  of  it  all  his  life. 

Alfred  was  a  young  man  twenty-three  years  old  when 
he  came  to  the  throne.  But  hard  days  were  in  store 
for  the  young  king.  Fierce  bands  of  sea-robbers  called 
Danes,  or  Northmen,  had  for  many  years  been  making 
war  upon  the  English.  They  came  from  Denmark, 
Norway,  and  the  countries  near  by.  They  belonged 
to  the  same  race  as  the  Angles  and  Saxons  of  three  or 
four  centuries  before,  and  spoke  almost  the  same 
language. 

They  were  strong,  brave,  and  venturesome,  and  loved 
to  sail  over  the  seas  in  their  long,  black  ships.  They 
laughed  at  the  wind  and  the  storm,  and  boastfully  called 
themselves  sea-kings,  because  they  thought  they  were 
masters  of  the  mighty  deep. 

At  first  when  they  came,  these  fierce  sea-rovers  used 
to  land  on  some  lonely  coast  or  sail  up  some  quiet 
river  and  steal  grain  and  cattle  and  go  away.  But  after 
a  time  they  came  in  swarms,  drove  the  people  from  their 
homes,  and  took  their  lands  and  settled  upon  them. 

When  Alfred  became  king,  the  Danes  had  settled 
in  the  north  and  east  of  England,  and  were  trying  to 
conquer  the  whole  kingdom.  So  the  young  king  had 
to  fight  them.  For  some  years  he  kept  them  in  check 
and  beat  them  in  many  a  battle. 

One  night  when  the  ^English  were  feasting,  the 
Danes  burst  in  upon  them  and  slew  a  great  many. 


HOW    KING    ALFRED 'RULED    ENGLAND. 


33 


King  Alfred  with  a  little  band  fled  for  safety  to  a  lonely 
spot,  and  there,  among  marshes  and  woods,  he  hid  him- 
self till  he  could  muster  an  army  to  lead  against  the 
Danes.  He  was  almost  in  despair.  He  wandered 
about  in  the  woods,  and  agreed  to  work  for  a  peasant 
if  he  would  give  him  food  and  a  bed  of  straw. 

One  day,  so  the  story  runs,  the  cotter's  wife,  leaving 
the  hut,  told  the  king 
to  watch  and  turn  the 
cakes  which  were  bak- 
ing on  the  hearth. 
Alfred  sat  down  beside 
the  fire,  mending  his 

, 

bow    and     sharpening 

If 


his  arrows,  —  all  the 
time  thinking  and  plan- 
ning how  he  could  free 
his  country  from  the 
Danes.  He  would  beat 
them  yet  he  felt  certain. 

While  he  was  thus  musing,  the  good  woman  came 
back  and  stood  beside  him.  "  What  have  you  done 
with  my  cakes  ? "  she  cried,  angrily.  "  Every  one  of 
them  is  burnt.  You  'd  have  been  glad  enough  to  eat 
them."  Alfred  smiled  and  begged  her  pardon.  The 
woman  little  thought  that  her  careless  servant  was  her 
king. 

One   day,  as    King  Alfred  was   in   a  shepherd's  cot 


ALFRED    IN    THE    SHEPHERD'S    COTTAGE. 


34  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

thinking  how  he  could  overcome  the  Danes,  one  of  his 
trusty  spies  came  running  to  him  with  good  news. 
Some  of  the  Danes  had  been  beaten  back  in  trying  to 
land  on  the  west  coast,  and  their  black,  raven  flag  had 
been  taken  by  the  English.  This  was  good  news 
indeed. 

The  raven  flag,  I  must  tell  you,  was  a  famous  banner 
that  had  been  woven  by  the  daughter  of  a  great  Danish 
sea-king.  It  was  thought  to  have  magic  power.  The 
Danes  said  they  could  tell  by  the  way  the  raven  held 
its  wings  whether  they  were  to  win  or  lose  a  battle. 
So  you  may  be  sure  that  the  Danes  were  downhearted 
when  their  raven  banner  was  lost ;  and  the  English 
were  in  high  spirits,  and  felt  sure  that  better  days  were 
coming. 

King  Alfred  now  came  out  from  his  hiding-place. 
He  was  very  cheerful  and  full  of  hope.  He  felt  that 
this  was  the  time  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  Danes.  So 
he  dressed  himself  as  a  minstrel,  took  his  harp  with  him 
and  stole  by  night  into  the  Danish  camp.  He  could 
play  well  upon  the  harp,  and  the  Danish  king,  Gothrun, 
and  his  soldiers  were  much  pleased  with  him,  and  urged 
him  to  play  for  them  while  they  drank  and  sang  and 
made  merry. 

But  all  the  time  Alfred  kept  his  eyes  and  ears  open. 
He  strolled  about  the  camp  for  two  or  three  days, 
counting  the  Danish  soldiers,  and  seeing  what  were 
their  strong  points  and  what  were  their  weak  ones. 


ALFRED    DESCRIBING   THE    DANISH    CAMP   TO    HIS    FOLLOWERS. 


36  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

When  he  had  learned  all  that  he  wished,  he  stole  back 
to  his  hiding-place,  and  sent  word  to  all  the  men 
of  the  west  to  meet  him  on  a  certain  day  in  the  forest. 
Then  he  led  them  against  the  Danes,  and  there  was  a 
great  battle  fought.  The  Danes  were  badly  beaten, 
and  had  to  beg  for  peace. 

King  Alfred  granted  them  peace  on  these  terms : 
they  were  to  march  out  of  the  west  country,  and  settle 
down  quietly  in  the  east,  and  become  Christians  and 
live  as  English  subjects.  And  this  they  did.  The 
Danish  king,  Gothrun,  was  baptized,  and  King  Alfred 
was  his  godfather.  Then  the  Danish  king  went,  with 
all  his  men,  to  live  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country. 
He  always  looked  up  to  King  Alfred  as  his  master,  and 
was  a  good  friend  to  him  ever  after. 

The  good  king  now  took  steps  to  make  his  kingdom 
strong  and  happy.  He  built  stone  forts  and  castles. 
He  also  took  care  to  see  that  all  his  fighting  men  were 
well  drilled,  and  ready  at  any  time  to  turn  out  at  the 
call  of  danger.  He  made  war-ships  of  such  size  and 
speed  that  the  roving  Danes  would  not  dare  to  meet 
them  in  battle.  Thus  England  was  made  safe  and 
strong  on  land  and  on  sea.  Alfred  was  the  first  English 
king  who  defeated  the  dreaded  Danes  at  sea. 

King  Alfred  having  made  his  kingdom  peaceful,  then 
tried  to  make  his  people  happy  by  framing  good  and 
just  laws.  He  took  every  care  that  his  judges  should 
rightly  carry  them  out,  and  do  all  in  their  power  to 


HOW    KING    ALFRED    RULED    ENGLAND.  37 

protect  the  poor.  All  who  stole  or  did  wrong  were 
punished  severely. 

King  Alfred  built  schools  and  hired  learned  men 
from  other  countries  to  come  over  and  teach  in  them. 
He  himself  even  taught  in  the  schools  ;  and  he  turned 
many  of  the  old  Latin  books  into  English,  so  that  his 
people  could  read  them  easily. 

Alfred  let  no  man  be  idle,  and  was  never  idle  him- 
self. He  set  himself  a  task  for  every  hour  of  the  day ; 
and  as  there  were  no  clocks  then,  he  used  to  mark  his 
time  by  the  burning  of  candles.  He  had  them  made  all 
of  the  same  size  so  that  they  would  burn  for  four  hours. 
He  put  these  into  lanterns  made  of  thin  horn,  for  the 
art  of  making  glass  had  been  forgotten.  He  burnt  six 
of  them  every  day,  so  that  he  could  always  tell  pretty 
nearly  what  time  it  was. 

This  great  and  good  king  did  not  live  to  be  a  very  old 
man.  He  died  in  the  year  901,  after  a  glorious  and  most 
useful  reign  of  twenty-nine  years.  He  suffered  during 
nearly  all  of  his  life  from  an  ailment  which  caused  him 
severe  pain,  but  still  he  went  bravely  on,  working  for 
his  people.  Though  it  is  nearly  a  thousand  years  since 
he  died,  yet  the  name  of  Alfred  the  Great  is  as  dear  to 
the  English  people  as  if  he  had  died  but  yesterday.  He 
fully  deserves  the  titles  given  him  by  the  old  writers, 
who  speak  of  him  as  "  the  wisest  man  of  his  time,  and 
the  darling  of  the  English  people." 


9.     HOW  A  DANE  CAME  TO  BE  KING  OF  ENGLAND. 

Ethelred  reigned  from  979  to  1016. 

A  HUNDRED  years  had  come  and  gone  since  the 
days  of  the  good  King  Alfred  ;  and  there  sat  on 
the  throne  of  England  a  king  named  Ethelred.  Now 
Ethelred  was  a  poor,  weak,  good-for-nothing  king.  He 
was  always  doing  the  wrong  thing  at  the  wrong  time. 
When  the  right  time  came  he  was  never  ready,  and  so 
men  gave  him  the  nickname  of  Ethelred  the  Unready. 

In  his  day,  as  in  the  days  of  King  Alfred,  Danish 
pirates  came  sailing  over  the  sea  and  made  war  upon 
the  English.  They  set  fire  to  villages  along  the  coast ; 
they  robbed  the  churches  and  abbeys ;  they  stole  from 
the  farmers  their  wheat  and  cattle,  and  those  who 
resisted  them  were  cruelly  slain  or  carried  away  and 
sold  as  slaves. 

I  have  told  you  that  Ethelred  was  a  weak  king.  I 
am  sorry  to  add  that  he  was  a  bit  of  a  coward  as  well  ; 
for  instead  of  fighting  the  Danes  as  King  Alfred  had 
done,  he  gave  them  money  to  go  away.  But  you  may 
be  sure,  they  soon  came  back  again  ;  and  every  time 
they  came,  the  king  had  to  give  them  more  money  to 
get  rid  of  them,  for  he  was  never  ready  to  offer  them 
battle. 


HOW  A  DANE  CAME  TO  BE  KING  OF  ENGLAND.    39 

At  last  Ethelred  made  up  his  mind  to  do  a  cruel  and 
terrible  deed,  the  like  of  which  was  never  done  on 
English  soil  before  or  since.  You  know  already  that,  at 
one  time  and  another,  a  great  many  Danes  had  settled 
in  England.  Some  were  hardy  fishermen,  some  were 
quiet  farmers,  others  were  busy  tradesmen  ;  and  most 
of  them  were  honest,  hard-working,  harmless  people. 

Now  King  Ethelred  sent  word  in  secret  that  the 
English,  on  a  certain  day,  were  to  rise  up  and  murder 
these  Danes.  And  when  the  day  came,  every  Dane 
that  could  be  found,  young  and  old,  soldiers  and  babies, 
men  and  women,  was  put  to  the  sword. 

Among  those  who  fell  was  a  fair  and  noble  lady 
named  Gunhild.  Though  she  was  own  sister  to  Sweyn, 
king  of  Denmark,  her  noble  birth  did  not  save  her. 
She  saw  her  dear  husband  and  her  darling  boy  dragged" 
out  and  slain  before  her  eyes.  She  told  her  murderers 
with  her  dying  lips  that  her  brother  of  Denmark  would 
avenge  her  death.  And  so  he  did.  When  the  news 
flew  to  Denmark  that  Gunhild  had  been  slain,  King 
Sweyn,  "  of  the  forked  beard,"  swore  to  pluck  the  crown 
from  the  brow  of  Ethelred. 

^  He  raised  an  army  and  a  mightier  fleet  of  ships  than 
ever  yet  had  sailed  to  England.  In  all  his  army  there 
was  not  a  slave  or  an  old  man,  but  every  soldier  was  a 
free  man  and  the  son  of  a  free  man  and  in  the  prime  of 
life.  All  had  sworn  to  be  avenged  upon  the  English 
people  for  this  cruel  deed. 


THE  DANISH   SEA-KING  COMES  TO  AVENGE  HIS  SISTER'S   MURDER. 


HOW  A  DANE  CAME  TO  BE  KING  OF  ENGLAND.    4! 

So  the  sea-kings  came  to  England  in  many  great 
ships,  each  bearing  the  flag  of  its  own  captain.  Golden 
eagles,  ravens,  dragons,  dolphins,  beasts  of  prey  threat- 
ened England  from  the  prows  of  those  ships,  as  they 
came  onward  through  the  water  and  threw  their  grim 
shadows  upon  the  waves. 

The  ship  of  Sweyn,  the  king,  was  long  and  shaped 
somewhat  like  a  serpent,  and  was  called  the  "  Great 
Dragon."  For  three  years  the  Danes  carried  fire  and 
sword  from  one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other ;  their 
path  could  be  traced  by  ruined  churches,  burnt  villages, 
and  all  the  horrors  of  a  bloody  war. 

There  was  but  one  man  of  note  in  these  wretched 
times  who  was  true  to  his  country  and  to  the  feeble  king. 
He  was  a  priest,  and  a  brave  one.  For  twenty  years 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  defended  his  city  against 
the  Danes. 

At  last,  when  a  traitor  in  the  town  threw  the  gates 
open  and  admitted  the  enemy,  he  said :  "  I  will  not  buy 
my  life  with  money  that  must  be  wrested  from  the 
suffering  people.  Do  with  me  what  you  please  ! " 

Again  and  again,  he  steadily  refused  to  bay  his  release 
with  gold  wrung  from  the  poor.  After  a  time  the 
Danes  lost  all  patience,  and  having  met  at  a  drunken 
merrymaking,  had  him  brought  into  the  feasting  hall. 
"  Now,  Bishop,"  they  said,  "  we  want  gold  !  "  He  looked 
around  on  the  crowd  of  angry  faces,  from  the  shaggy 
beards  close  to  him  to  the  shaggy  beards  against  the 


42  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

walls,  where  men  stood  on  tables  to  see  him  over  the 
heads  of  the  others  ;  and  he  knew  that  his  time  was 
come. 

"  I  have  no  gold,"  said  he. 

"Get  it,  Bishop!  "  they  all  thundered. 

"  That,  I  have  often  told  you,  I  will  not,"  said  he. 

They  crowded  around  him,  threatening  violence  ;  but 
the  brave  priest  stood  unmoved.  Then  one  man  struck 
him;  then  another;  at  last  a  cruel  soldier  killed  the 
noble  old  man  with  his  battle-axe.  Oh,  but  it  was  a 
pitiful  deed  ! 

.  Now  Sweyn  had  a  son,  a  famous  warrior,  named 
Canute  ;  and  Ethelred,  too,  had  a  son,  so  hardy  and 
brave  that  they  called  him  Edmund  Ironside.  So 
Canute  and  Ironside  —  for  Ethelred  had  fled  across  the 
seas  —  fought  for  the  kingdom.  It  was  a  hard  fight; 
the  men  of  the  east  sided  with  Ironside,  and  the  men 
of  the  west  with  Canute. 

Oh,  unhappy  England,  what  cruel  days  were  these  ! 
At  last  Ironside,  who  was  a  big  man,  proposed  to 
Canute,  who  was  a  little  man,  that  they  should  fight  in 
single  combat.  If  Canute  had  been  the  big  man,  he 
would  probably  have  said  "  Yes,"  but  being  a  little  man, 
he  said  decidedly  "  No."  However,  he  said  he  was 
willing  to  share  the  kingdom  with  Ironside.  This  was 
done,  and  both  were  glad,  for  both  were  tired  of  so 
much  bloodshed. 


10.     KING  CANUTE,  THE   DANE. 

Canute  reigned  from  1016  to  1035. 

NOT  long  after  the  fierce  contest  we  have  just  read 
about,  King  Edmund  died.  Canute  alone  ruled 
the  land.  He  was  a  cruel  king,  and  used  to  say  to  his 
fighting  men :  "  He  who  brings  me  the  head  of  an  enemy 
shall  be  dearer  to  me  than  a  brother."  And  he  was 
so  severe  in  hunting  down  his  enemies  that  he  must 
have  had  a  pretty  large  family  of  these  dear  brothers. 

After  the  land  was  at  peace  he  treated  his  people 
more  kindly  and  made  wise  and  just  laws.  In  fact,  the 
people  were  better  off  under  their  Danish  king  than  if 
he  had  been  an  Englishman  like  themselves.  They 
learned  to  like  him  so  much  that  they  very  willingly 
followed  him  in  his  foreign  wars,  and  with  their  help  he 
made  himself  master  of  Norway  and  Sweden.  He  thus 
became  a  very  powerful  monarch,  ruling  over  four  coun- 
tries, —  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  England. 

But  as  Canute  grew  older,  he  felt  very  sorry  for 
having  shed  so  much  blood  and  wasted  so  much  land, 
so  he  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Rome  and  ask  for 
pardon.  To  show  his  sorrow  he  went  on  foot  all  the 
way,  with  a  staff  in  his  hand  and  a  pack  on  his  back. 

When  he  returned  his  friends  were  very  fond  of 
flattering  him  and  of  telling  him  how  great  a  king  he 


44 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


was.  Once  one  of  them  said :  "  You  are  the  king  of 
kings  and  the  lord  of  the  sea  as  well  as  of  the  land." 
Canute  said  nothing  at  the  time. 

One  day,  as  he  was  walking  by  the  seashore  and  his 

friends  were    talking  in  this 
way,  he  ordered  a  chair  to  be 
|  brought    and    placed   at   the 
!  edge  of  the  waves  at  the  time 
when  the  tide  was  rising. 
The  king  took  his  seat 
in    the  chair 
while      his 
cour  ti  ers, 
stood  round, 
and  he  said 
to  the  waves: 
"The  land  on 
which    I  sit 
belongs    to 
me ;    and  as 
for    you,    O 
waves,  I   am 

your  lord  and  master  also.  I  command  you,  therefore, 
to  come  no  nearer,  nor  dare  to  wet  my  feet ! " 

But  the  tide,  heeding  not,  came  dashing  on,  and  in  a 
little  while  had  washed  over  the  feet  of  Canute  and  his 
nobles.  Then  Canute  turned  to  these  foolish  flatterers 
and  said  :  "  You  now  see  that  I  am  not  master  of  the 


,  --  -  :! 


.KING   CANUTE   REBUKING   HIS  COURTIERS. 


KING    CANUTE,    THE    DANE.  45 

waves.  Learn,  then,  that  the  power  of  kings  is  as 
nothing  to  the  power  of  God !  He  alone  rules  in 
heaven,  in  earth,  and  on  the  sea." 

The  courtiers  hung  their  heads,  looked  foolish,  and 
said  nothing.  From  that  day,  it  is  said,  Canute  wore 
his  crown  no  more.  We  can  almost  see  them  all  on 
the  seashore  together,  —  the  king  in  good  humor  with 
his  own  wisdom,  and  the  courtiers  quite  overcome  by  it. 

King  Canute  built  up  the  churches  and  abbeys  which 
his  fathers  had  burned.  He  was  fond  of  making 
visits  to  the  holy  places.  But  of  all  the  abbeys  which 
the  king  raised  up,  he  loved  none  so  well  as  Ely ;  and 
he  often  went  there  on  the  great  feast  days  of  the  year. 
The  abbey  of  Ely  stood  on  an  island  amid  the  marshes, 
and  the  king  could  get  there  only  by  water. 

One  evening  as  he  was  rowed  to  the  abbey,  the  chant 
of  the  monks,  singing  their  evening  hymn,  floated 
sweetly  over  the  quiet  waters  ;  and  as  it  fell  upon  the 
king's  ears,  his  heart  was  so  glad  that  he  began  to  sing. 
He  made  the  song  himself ;  and  this  is  how  it  ran  : 

"  Merry  the  monks  of  Ely  sing 
As  by  them  rows  Canute,  the  king ; 
Row,  men,  to  the  land  more  near, 
That  we  these  good  monks'  songs  may  hear." 

Other  verses  followed,  and  were  often  sung  in  after 
years  by  the  monks  of  Ely,  who  told  with  pride  of  the 
many  gifts  which  the  king  had  given  them  in  memory 
of  that  day. 


46  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Another  time  it  was  winter  when  the  king  and  his 
men  set  out  for  Ely.  The  water  was  frozen,  but  no  one 
was  sure  that  the  ice  would  bear.  While  the  king  and 
those  with  him  stood  in  doubt,  up  came  a  country-fellow 
who  was  so  fat  that  the  people  near  Ely  called  him 
"  Pudding." 

"  Are  you  afraid  to  cross  ?  "  said  Pudding.  "  Let  me 
go  before  the  king." 

"  Do  !  "  said  the  king,  "  and  I  will  follow  you.  You 
are  a  big  and  heavy  man,  I  am  small  and  light ;  and 
what  will  bear  you  will  surely  bear  me." 

So  Pudding  crossed  over,  and  the  king  gave  him  a 
good  slice  of  land  for  his  pains. 

Canute  liked  to  be  flattered.  A  poor  poet  had  made 
a  song  in  his  praise,  but  it  was  very  short.  Because  it 
was  so  short  the  king  could  hardly  be  kept  from  putting 
the  poet  to  death. 

The  Danish  king  was  very  fond  of  hunting,  and 
wanted  to  have  for  himself  all  the  hunting  in  the  land. 
So  he  had  laws  made  which  kept  other  men  from  kill- 
ing the  wild  animals.  Such  laws  are  called  Game 
Laws,  or  Forest  Laws.  In  Canute's  time,  if  any  free 
Englishman  killed  a  stag,  he  was  put  in  prison.  If  a 
serf  or  slave  did  so,  he  was  put  to  death. 

After  the  death  of  Canute,  two  of  his  sons  sat  in 
turn  on  the  English  throne  ;  but  they  ruled  so  badly, 
that  the  English  people  wished  to  have  one  of  the 
sons  of  Ethelred  for  their  king. 


11.     THE   STORY  OF  THE   NORMAN  CONQUEST. 

In  the  Year  1066. 

WE  have  told  you  how  Canute,  the  Dane,  became 
king  of  England.  His  sons,  too,  were  kings  of 
England  ;  but  when  they  died  the  crown  came  back  to 
Ethelred's  son,  King  Edward  the  Good. 

But  King  Edward  had  no  children,  so  at  his  death 
the  wise  men  of  the  nation  had  to  choose  a  king.  They 
chose  the  wisest  and  bravest  man  in  all  the  land  — 
Earl  Harold — and  made  him  their  king. 

But  there  was  another  man  who  wanted  to.  be  king. 
This  was  William,  duke  of  Normandy ;  or,  as  we  now 
call  him,  William  the  Conqueror.  He  was  a  great  and 
brave  man  who  had  come  of  a  noble  race  of  sea-kings. 
These  were  the  Normans,  or  Northmen.  They  were 
kinsmen  of  the  Danes  and  Angles.  They,  too,  had 
been  fierce  pirates ;  but  they  had  at  last  settled  down 
in  the  north  of  France,  and  had  come  to  be  the 
ablest  and  bravest  men  in  all  the  world. 

Duke  William,  as  we  have  told  you,  had  set  his  heart 
on  the  crown  of  England.  He  said  that  King  Edward, 
who  was  a  cousin  of  his,  had  told  him  that  he  would 
leave  it  to  him,  and  that  Harold  himself  had  sworn  to 
help  him  to  the  throne.  So,  when  he  heard  that  Harold 


48  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

was  made  king,  he  was  very  angry,  and  raised  a  great 
army  to  come  and  conquer  England. 

When  King  Harold  heard  what  William  was  going  to 
do,  he  kept  his  ships  sailing  up  and  down  the  channel, 
and  set  his  soldiers  to  guard  the  south  coast,  where  he 
thought  the  Normans  would  land. 

But  while  Harold  was  at  Hastings  waiting  for  Duke 
William  to  come,  bad  news  came  from  the  north.  His 
wicked  brother  Tostig,  who  had  been  driven  from  the 
country,  had  come  back'  to  make  war  upon  him.  As 
soon  as  Harold  heard  it,  he  set  out  for  Yorkshire  with 
all  the  troops  he  could  muster,  and  marched  day  and 
night  till  he  came  up  with  his  brother.  In  a  great 
battle  that  was  fought  he  beat  him. 

King  Harold  gave  a  feast  at  York  in  honor  of  the 
victory ;  but  while  they  sat  at  the  table,  a  man  rushed 
in,  splashed  with  mud  and  tired  with  long  riding,  and 
told  the  king  that  the  Normans  had  landed  in  England. 
"  It  is  bad  news,"  said  King  Harold  ;  "  had  I  been  there, 
they  would  not  have  set  foot  on  land  ;  but  I  could  not 
be  there  and  here  too." 

He  broke  up  the  feast  at  once,  and  telling  his  soldiers 
to  hurry  after  him,  set  off  for  London  as  fast  as  he  could 
go.  Within  a  week  his  army  was  ready. 

The  news  was  true.  The  Normans  had  been  tossed 
about  by  contrary  winds,  and  some  of  their  ships  had 
been  wrecked.  A  part  of  their  own  shore,  to  which 
they  had  been  driven  back,  was  strewn  with  Norman 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    NORMAN    CONQUEST. 


49 


bodies.     But  they  had  once  more  set  sail,  Led  by  the 
duke's  own  galley,  upon  the  prow 
of  which  the  figure  of  a  golden 
boy  stood  pointing  toward  Eng- 
land.      By  day  the  banner  of 
the  three  lions  of  Norman- 
dy, the  diverse- 
colored     sails, 
the    gilded 
vanes,  the 
many    decora- 
tions    of    this 
gorgeous  ship 
glistened  in  the 
sun ;    by  night 
a  light  sparkled 
like  a   star  at 
her  masthead. 
And      now 
the  whole  Nor- 
man   force, 
hopeful    and 
strong  on  Eng- 
lish    ground, 
was  encamped 
near  Hastings. 

T*-|  * 

LANDING    OF   THE    NORMANS. 

old  story  that 


5O  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

when  the, Norman  duke  took  his  first  step  on  English 
soil,  he  stumbled  and  fell  forward.  Then  a  great  cry 
arose  from  his  men,  for  they  said,  "  This  is  an  evil  sign  ; 
as  our  leader  hath  fallen,  so  will  our  cause  fail."  But 
William,  with  his  ready  wit,  turned  his  mishap  to  good 
account.  "  See  ! "  he  called  out,  as  he  arose  with  his 
hands  full  of  English  soil,  —  "  see,  I  have  taken  a  grip 
of  this  land  with  both  of  my  hands  ! "  And  his  fol- 
lowers laughed  and  were  in  good  spirits  once  more. 

On  a  bright  October  morning  in  the  year  1066,  the 
English  and  the  Norman  armies  stood  face  to  face  on 
the  fields  near  Hastings.  Harold's  troops  stood  on  the 
slope  of  a  hill,  every  man  on  foot.  In  front  of  them 
they  had  driven  into  the  ground  stakes  and  branches  of 
trees,  and  set  up  their  shields  against  them  like  a 
wall. 

The  men  of  Kent  and  the  king's  own  guards  were  in 
the  front  line.  Over  them  floated  the  royal  flag,  upon 
which  was  woven  in  gold  the  image  of  an  English 
soldier  fighting  bravely. 

Under  this  flag  Harold  took  his  place  on  foot,  and 
there  also  stood  the  warriors  who  fought  so  well  against 
Tostig.  These  men  wore  coats  upon  which  were 
sewed  rings  of  iron,  and  their  heads  were  covered  with 
helmets  shaped  like  a  cone,  having  a  piece  in  front  to 
protect  the  nose.  They  were  armed  with  heavy  battle- 
axes,  swords,  and  darts,  and  carried  on  their  left  arms 
shields  having  the  shape  of  a  kite. 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    NORMAN    CONQUEST.  51 

The  rest  of  the  English  were  armed  with  whatever 
weapons  they  could  find.  Some  had  nothing  better 
than  clubs,  iron-pointed  stakes,  stone  hammers,  pitch- 
forks, and  such  rude  weapons ;  but  one  and  all  had 
stout  hearts,  "Stand  fast,  my  men,"  said  King  Harold, 
'6  and  ply  your  battle-axes  well ;  if  you  break  your  ranks 
we  are  lost !  " 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  on  a  Saturday  morning 
that  the  Norman  archers  began  the  battle.  Their 
arrows  flew  like  rain  before  the  wind.  But  the  English, 
behind  their  wall  of  shields,  cared  no  more  for  their 
arrows  than  they  would  have  cared  for  a  shower  of  rain. 

The  Norman  foot  soldiers  with  their  long  pikes  came 
next ;  but  they  went  back  down  the  hill  faster  than 
they  came  up.  Then  the  Norman  horsemen  in  steel 
armor  rode  up,  and  dashed  furiously  upon  the  English. 
But  Harold  and  his  brave  troops  stood  as  firm  as  a 
rock,  and  horses  and  men  fell  thick  and  fast  under  the 
stroke  of  their  deadly  battle-axes. 

The  Normans  turned  and  fled.  The  word  went 
round  that  the  duke  was  slain,  and  the  Normans  began 
to  give  way  all  along  their  line.  But  the  next  moment 
William  was  seen  driving  back  the  troops,  and  calling 
out  to  them,  as  he  drew  up  his  helmet,  "  Look  !  I  am 
alive,  and  by  God's  help,  I  will  still  conquer ! " 

From  nine  in  the  morning  till  sunset  the  fight  went 
on.  Again  and  again  did  the  Normans  rush  up  the 
slope  of  the  hill,  and  again  and  again  were  they  driven 


52  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

back.  Thus  throughout  the  day  the  battle  went  against 
the  Normans.  Duke  William  fought  in  the  thick  of 
the  fight  as  brave  as  a  lion.  Two  horses  were  killed 
under  him.  He  felt  that  unless  he  could  draw  the 
English  away  from  their  place  on  the  hill,  the  battle 
was  lost.  So  he  ordered  his  horsemen  to  feign  retreat. 

When  the  English  saw  this  they  rushed  down  the 
slope  in  pursuit,  forgetting  Harold's  command  to  keep 
behind  their  defences.  Then  the  Norman  horse  turned 
suddenly  round  and  fell  upon  them  with  great  slaughter. 
Up  the  hill  and  through  the  fences  they  rode,  and 
dashed  among  the  English  host.  Harold  and  his 
chosen  band  fought  fiercely  around  their  standard. 

Twilight  was  fast  drawing  nigh  when  Duke  William 
turned  and  said  to  his  archers  :  "  Shoot  your  arrows 
high  up  into  the  air,  that  they  may  fall  upon  the 
faces  of  the  English."  They  did  so  ;  an  arrow  struck 
the  English  king  in  the  eye,  and  he  fell  dead.  This 
was  the  turning-point  of  the  battle.  The  English  fled, 
and  left  the  Normans  masters  of  the  field. 

Thus  ended  one  of  the  greatest  battles  ever  fought 
on  English  ground.  Thus  the  rule  of  the  old  English 
kings  came  to  an  end,  and  a  Norman  wore  the  crown 
of  England. 


12.     THE   DEATH  OF   THE   RED  KING. 

In  the  Year  noo. 

WILLIAM  RUFUS,  or  William  the  Second,  was 
the  son  of  William  the  Conqueror.  Rufus  is  a 
Latin  word  which  means  red ;  and  people  gave  the  king 
this  nickname  because  he  had  red  hair  and  a  ruddy 
face.  He  was  neither  a  good  king  nor  a  good  man. 
He  was  hard  and  cruel  to  all  his  subjects,  and  very 
harsh  to  the  poor. 

When  this  wicked  king  and  his  friends  were  traveling 
and  they  came  to  a  farmhouse,  they  would  make  the 
farmer  kill  his  cow  or  his  sheep  or  his  pig,  and  would 
have  it  roasted  at  the  fire  and  would  eat  it  all.  They 
would  then  drink  the  poor  man's  ale,  and  if  there  was  any 
left,  they  would  wash  their  horses'  feet  with  it.  After 
sleeping  in  the  farmer's  house  all  night,  they  would,  out 
of  sheer  cruelty,  set  fire  to  it  in  the  morning. 

Both  Rufus  and  his  father  were  very  fond  of  hunting. 
His  father  had  driven  out  the  farmers  and  laborers 
from  their  homes  throughout  a  wide  tract  of  land  in 
the  south  of  England,  wasted  the  gardens  and  the  fields 
of  wheat,  and  left  the  land  free  for  deer  and  wild  boars 
to  roam  about  in  it.  This  tract  of  land  was,  and  still  is, 
called  the  New  Forest. 


54  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

The  poor  people  whose  homes  had  been  laid  waste 
believed  that  this  forest  was  enchanted.  They  said 
that  in  thunderstorms  and  on  dark  nights  demons 
appeared,  moving  beneath  the  branches  of  the  gloomy 
trees.  They  said  that  a  terrible  spectre  had  foretold  to 
Norman  hunters  that  the  Red  King  should  be  punished 
there.  It  was  a  lonely  forest,  accursed  in  the  people's 
hearts  for  the  wicked  deeds  that  had  been  done  to 
make  it,  and  no  man  liked  to  stray  there. 

But  in  reality  it  was  like  any  other  forest.  There 
were  hillsides  covered  with  rich  fern,  on  which  the 
morning  dew  sparkled  beautifully ;  there  were  brooks 
where  the  deer  went  down  to  drink,  or  over  which  the 
whole  herd  bounded,  flying  from  the  arrows  of  the 
hunters  ;  there  were  sunny  glades  and  gloomy  places 
where  but  little  light  came  through  the  leaves. 

The  songs  of  the  birds  in  the  New  Forest  were 
pleasanter  to  hear  than  the  shouts  of  fighting  men  out- 
side ;  and  even  when  the  Red  King  and  his  court  came 
hunting  through  its  thick  woods,  cursing  loud  and  rid- 
ing hard,  with  a  jingle  of  stirrups  and  bridles  and 
knives  and  daggers,  they  did  much  less  harm  there 
than  among  the  poor  people. 

One  bright  day  in  July,  the  Red  King  rose  early  in  the 
morning  to  hunt  in  the  New  Forest.  He  was  told  it 
was  a  Saint's  Day.  "  What  care  I  ?  "  he  said  ;  "the  bet- 
ter the  day,  the  better  the  deed  !  "  One  of  the  hunting 
party  had  had  a  fearful  dream,  and  warned  the  king  not 


THE  DEATH  OF  THE  RED  KING.  55 

to  go.  "  What  !  "  he  cried,  "  do  you  take  me  for  an 
Englishman  with  your  dreams  ?  Get  the  horses  ready, 
and  let  us  be  off  !  " 

As  they  were  about  to  start,  an  arrow-maker  brought 
him  a  bundle  of  new  arrows  well  made  and  fully  a  yard 
long.  The  king  was  delighted,  and  bought  the  whole 
of  them,  and  gave  them  to  one  of  his  friends  named  Sir 
Walter  Tyrrel.  "  There,"  he  said,  "  you  are  a  capital 
marksman ;  you  will  shoot  well  with  these,  I  am  sure ! " 
He  and  his  friends  now  galloped  off  into  the  woods  to 
hunt  the  red  deer. 

By  and  by  the  party  scattered,  and  the  king  was  left 
with  only  one  companion,  Sir  Walter  Tyrrel.  Soon 
the  king  caught  sight,  through  the  underwood,  of  the 
branching  horns  of  a  tall  stag.  An  oak  stood  between 
him  and  the  stag  ;  he  could  not  shoot  the  stag  himself, 
and  he  shouted  to  Tyrrel  to  draw. 

The  knight  drew  his  bow ;  the  arrow  struck  the 
trunk  of  the  oak,  glanced  off,  and  pierced  the  breast 
of  the  king  who  fell  dead  from  his  horse.  The  knight 
had  shot  too  well,  and  the  arrows  the  king  had  given 
him  were  too  good. 

Tyrrel  galloped  off  at  once  to  the  coast  and  escaped 
in  a  vessel  to  France. 

That  evening  a  charcoal-burner  of  the  New  Forest 
came  upon  the  body  of  a  man  lying  in  a  pool  of  blood. 
It  was  the  Red  King  !  He  put  the  dead  body  on  his 
rough  and  grimy  cart,  and  carried  it  to  Winchester, 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


where  it  was  buried  in  the  cathedral  without  funeral 
rites  or  weeping  eyes.  After  a  few  years,  the  tower 
above  the  wicked  king's  tomb  fell  in,  and  the  people 

said  it  was  because  so  foul  a  body 
lay    beneath    it.      Whether 
Tyrrel    killed    the    king   on 
purpose,     or     whether     the 
arrow  struck  him  by  accident, 
nobody  knows.     At  any  rate, 
Sir  Walter  fled   from   the 
country. 

*+  But  some  said  that  one 
of  the  poor  people,  who 
had  been  turned 
out  of  house 
and  home  for 
the  sake  of  the 
king's  sport,  had 
lain  in  wait  for 
the  Red  King 
and  had  taken 
this  fearful  re- 
venge. But  no  one  will  ever  know  for  certain  how 
the  death  of  this  bold,  bad  king  came  about. 

William  Rufus  was  the  third  member  of  the  Con- 
queror's family  who  was  killed  in  the  New  Forest.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  the  people  of  those  days  thought  the 
great  hunting-ground  a  doomed  spot  for  the  royal  family. 


DEATH    OF   THE   RED    KING. 


13.     THE   LOSS   OF  THE    "WHITE    SHIP." 


In  the  Year  1120. 


HENRY,  the  youngest  son  of  the  Conqueror,  was  in 
his  turn  made  king  of  England ;  and  as  he  was 
the  first  king  of  that  name,  he  was  called  Henry  the 
First.  He  was  also  known  as  the  "  Fine  Scholar," 
because,  unlike  most  princes  of  those  times,  he  could 
read  and  write. 

But  though  clever,  he  was  a  bold  and  cunning  man. 
He  cared  very  little  for  his  word,  and  took  any  means 
to  gain  his  ends.  Henry  had  an  only  son,  Prince 
William,  whom  he  loved  very  much ;  and  when  the 
prince  was  eighteen  years  old  he  took  him  to  Nor- 
mandy and  made  him  duke  over  the  Normans. 

When  the  king  and  his  son  came  to  the  coast  to  take 
ship  again  to  England,  up  came  a  sea  captain  named 
Fitz-Stephen,  and  said  to  the  king,  "  My  father,  O  king, 
was  the  captain  of  the  good  ship  that  bore  your  father 
over  the  sea  to  the  conquest  of  England.  I  also  have  a 
fine  vessel,  named  the  "White  Ship,"  rowed  by  fifty 
sturdy  sailors.  There  she  is,  rocking  in  the  bay,  and 
ready  to  put  to  sea.  Let  me,  I  pray  you,  steer  you 
to  England,  as  my  father  steered  your  father  in  the 
days  gone  by." 


58  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  said  the  king, "  that  I  cannot  take  your 
offer,  for  I  have  already  chosen  my  vessel ;  but  my  son, 
the  young  prince,  shall  sail  with  you  in  the  '  White 
Ship,'  and  you  shall  follow  me  to  England." 

The  king's  ship  set  sail ;  and  Prince  William  and 
his  half-sister,  with  a  company  of  knights  and  ladies, 
went  on  board  the  "  White  Ship."  The  young  prince 
called  Fitz-Stephen  to  him,  and  said,  "  Bring  out  three 
casks  of  wine,  and  give  them  to  the  fifty  bold  rowers 
who  are  to  row  us  across  the  sea.  Bid  them  drink  and 
be  merry,  for  we  shall  not  start  till  midnight."  And  the 
rowers  drank  the  three  casks  of  wine,  and  the  prince, 
with  the  knights  and  ladies,  danced  on  deck  by  the 
light  of  the  full  moon. 

At  last  the  anchor  was  lifted,  the  square  sail  was 
hoisted,  the  fifty  bold  rowers  sat  down  to  their  oars, 
and  merrily  sped  the  "  White  Ship  "  over  the  moonlit 
sea.  But  there  was  not  a  sober  sailor  on  board.  Fitz- 
Stephen  had  the  helm.  The  gay  young  nobles  and  the 
beautiful  ladies,  wrapped  in^mantles  of  various  bright 
colors  to  protect  them  from  the  cold,  talked,  laughed, 
and  sang.  The  prince  encouraged  the  fifty  sailors  to 
row  harder  yet  for  the  honor  of  the  "  White  Ship."  On 
she  went  like  an  arrow. 

But  hark  !  a  shock  —  a  fearful  crash  !  A  terrific  cry 
breaks  from  three  hundred  hearts.  It  is  the  cry  which 
the  people  in  the  distant  vessel  of  the  king  hear  faintly 
on  the  water.  The  "White  Ship"  has  struck  upon  a 


THE    LOSS    OF    THE    "  WHITE    SHIP.  59 

% 

rock,  is  filling  —  going  down  !  What  is  to  be  done?  A 
cry  of  despair  rises  from  the  gay  lords  and  lovely  ladies 
on  board  the  ill-fated  vessel. 

Fitz-Stephen  hurried  the  prince  into  a  boat,  with 
some  few  nobles.  "  Push  off,"  he  whispered,  "  and  row 
to  the  land.  It  is  not  far,  and  the  sea  is  smooth.  The 
rest  of  us  must  die." 

But  as  they  rowed  away  from  the  sinking  ship  the 
prince  heard  the  voice  of  his  half-sister  Marie,  calling  to 
him  from  the  ship.  "  Stop,  men  !  "  he  cried.  "  Row 
back  to  the  ship,  I  cannot  leave  my  sister  to  perish." 
So  back  they  rowed  and  drew  near  to  the  ship  ;  but 
so  many  then  leapt  into  the  boat  that  it  sank  under 
the  heavy  load.  And  at  the  same  instant  the  "  White 
Ship  "  itself  went  down. 

There  were  two  men  who  held  on  to  a  broken  mast. 
One  of  them,  who  had  on  a  warm  sheepskin  coat,  was 
a  butcher  called  Berthold  ;  the  other  was  a  young  noble 
named  Godfrey.  As  they  drifted  with  the  tide  on  that 
cold  December  night,  they  saw  another  man  come  swim- 
ming towards  them.  When  they  caught  sight  of  his 
long  hair  and  heard  him  speak,  they  knew  him  to  be 
Fitz-Stephen. 

"  What  has  become  of  the  prince  ?  "  said  the  captain. 

"  He  is  drowned,"  said  the  men,  "  and  his  sister  also, 
and  all  who  were  with  them  in  the  boat." 

"  Oh,  woe  is  me  !  "  said  the  captain  ;  and,  throwing  up 
his  arms,  he  sank  under  the  waves.  The  two  men 


6o 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


clung  to  the  mast  for  some  hours ;  but  at  last  the 
young  noble  said,  "  I  feel  weak  and  faint.  My  hands 
have  grown  as  cold  as  ice,  and  I  cannot  hold  on  any 


KING   HENRY  IS  TOLD  OF  THE   LOSS  OF  THE 
"  WHITE   SHIP." 


longer."     As  he  let  go  his  grip,  he   called  out  to  the 
butcher,  "  Good-bye,  friend,  and  God  keep  you   safe  ! " 
In  the  gray  of  the  morning,  the  people  on  shore  saw 
the  poor  butcher,  with  his  arm  round  the  broken  spar, 
and  they  put  out  a  boat  and  brought  him  safe  to  land. 


THE    LOSS    OF    THE    "WHITE    SHIP."  6 1 

He  was  the  only  one  left  to  tell  the  sad  tale  of  the 
"White  Ship." 

For  three  days  no  one  dared  to  tell  the  king  of  his 
great  loss.  But  at  last  a  little  boy  was  sent  in  to  him. 
On  his  knees  and  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  the  boy  told 
the  king  that  the  "  White  Ship  "  had  gone  down,  and 
that  his  son,  Prince  William,  had  been  drowned. 

The  king  fell  upon  the  floor  at  the  news,  and  lay 
there  as  if  dead.  His  only  son,  the  joy  of  his  heart, 
was  no  more.  Time  brought  new  joys  and  new  cares, 
but  it  is  said  King  Henry  never  smiled  again. 

The  only  child  left  to  the  king  was  a  daughter  named 
Matilda.  Before  his  death,  he  did  his  utmost  to  get 
the  nobles  to  support  her  claim  to  the  throne,  though 
a  woman  had  never  yet  reigned  alone  in  England. 

As  soon  as  King  Henry  was  dead,  all  the  plans  and 
schemes  he  had  cunningly  made  came  to  nothing.  His 
daughter  Matilda  was  not  made  queen,  because  several 
of  the  great  nobles  did  not  care  to  have  a  woman 
reign  over  them  in  days  when  there  were  so  many  wars. 
So  they  chose  Henry's  nephew  Stephen,  whose  mother 
was  the  daughter  of  William  the  Conqueror.  This  took 
place  in  the  year  1135. 


14.     THE   NORMANS   AND   HOW   THEY   LIVED. 

About  800   Years   ago. 

A  FTER  the  battle  of  Hastings  four  foreign  kings 
**  reigned  in  England,  one  after  the  other ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  three  kings  whom  we  have  read  about, — 
William  the  Conqueror,  the  Red  King,  and  his  brother 
Henry,  —  together  with  a  very  wicked  king  named 
Stephen.  These  four  are  often  called  the  Norman 
kings  of  England.  Their  rule  covers  a  period  of 
eighty-eight  years  (1066-1154). 

The  coming  of  the  Normans  made  a  great  change 
in  England.  In  the  first  place,  all  the  chief  men  in 
the  land  were  strangers  who  could  not  speak  English. 
Hence  there  were  two  languages  spoken  in  the  country 
at  the  same  time.  The  king,  the  court,  and  the  nobles 
spoke  French,  while  the  rest  of  the  people  spoke  English. 

The  Normans  looked  down  upon  the  English  as 
people  very  much  beneath  them,  while  the  English 
looked  upon  their  new  masters  with  hatred.  Very 
severe  laws  had  to  be  made  to  prevent  the  English 
from  murdering  the  Normans  when  they  found  them 
alone  and  unprotected.  Not  only  did  the  Normans 
take  the  best  of  the  land  for  themselves,  but  all  the 
chief  offices  in  the  nation  were  held  by  them  or  their 
descendants. 


THE    NORMANS    AND    HOW    THEY    LIVED.  63 

After  awhile  the  sons  and  grandsons  of  the  Norman 
barons  learned  to  speak  English,  and  began  to  look 
upon  England  as  their  real  home.  Then  they  became 
more  friendly  with  the  English,  and  took  pride  in  call- 
ing themselves  Englishmen. 

Under  these  Norman  kings  many  castles  were  built 
for  the  dwellings  of  the  nobles  and  other  great  men 
who  were  strangers  in  the  land  and  wanted  such  places 
for  safety.  A  hill  or  rock  or  some  high  ground  near 
a  river  was  usually  chosen  as  a  site  upon  which  to  build 
a  baron's  stronghold.  This  was  further  strengthened 
by  a  deep  ditch,  or  moat,  as  it  was  called,  dug 
around  the  walls.  The  chief  building  where  the  baron 
and  his  family  lived  was  called  the  Keep.  Between 
this  and  the  massive  outer  walls  was  •  an  open  space  of 
ground,  or  court,  where  stood  the  stables  for  the  horses 
and  houses  for  the  servants. 

The  entrance  to  the  castle  grounds  was  barred  by  a 
strong  gateway,  which,  on  account  of  the  ditch,  could 
be  reached  only  from  the  outside  by  a  drawbridge. 
The  passage  through  the  gateway  could  be  closed  by 
a  spiked  iron  grating  let  down  from  above ;  and  the 
archway  was  pierced  with  holes,  through  which  melted 
lead  or  boiling  pitch  could  be  poured  upon  an  enemy 
trying  to  force  an  entrance.  The  gray  ruins  of  many 
of  these  buildings  are  still  to  be  seen  in  various  parts  of 
England. 

The   Norman  lords  had  but  little  furniture  in  their 


64  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

dwellings.  The  chief  room  was  the  large  hall  where 
the  family  and  servants  took  their  meals  together.  A 
long,  rough  table  and  some  rude  benches  were  all  the 
articles  it  contained.  Carpets  for  the  floor  were  then 
unknown  ;  but  straw  in  winter  and  grass  or  rushes  in 
summer  were  strewn  in  plenty  upon  the  ground. 

The  lord's  bedroom  had  a  few  stools  and  a  straw  bed 
in  it.  The  ladies  of  the  family  had  nothing  better. 
The  servants  had  to  put  up  with  a  mat  spread  upon 
the  floor,  or  else  a  heap  of  straw. 

If  the  houses  of  the  rich  were  so  bare  of  furniture, 
wretched  indeed  must  have  been  the  homes  of  the 
common  people. 

Their  houses  were  small,  rude  cabins,  built  of  wood, 
thatched  with  straw,  and  plastered  with  mud.  They 
had  only  one  or  two  rooms,  in  which  might  be  found 
an  iron  pot  for  cooking  food,  a  pitcher,  and  a  table,  with 
a  log  or  two  to  serve  as  stools.  Chimneys  were  not 
in  use  either  in  the  castle  or  in  the  lowly  dwelling. 
A  fire  of  wood,  when  needed,  burned  on  the  hearth,  and 
the  smoke  was  left  to  find  its  way  out  through  an 
opening  in  the  roof. 

The  food  of  the  common  people  was  simpler  than 
that  of  the  upper  classes.  The  bread  of  the  working- 
man  was  brown  in  color,  and  made  of  rye,  oats,  or 
barley ;  but  the  rich  man  ate  white  bread  made  of 
wheat  flour.  The  brown  bread,  however,  if  less  sweet 
than  the  other,  was  very  good  and  wholesome. 


THE    NORMANS    AND    HOW    THEY    LIVED.  65 

In  the  baron's  kitchen  the  art  of  cooking  was  studied 
with  much  care.  There  were  many  dainty  dishes  of  all 
kinds  of  meats.  Fish  of  many  sorts  from  the  rivers, 
game  from  the  fields  and  woods,  and  fowls  that  strutted 
in  the  farmyards  were  brought  there  in  plenty.  The 
peacock  and  the  crane — birds  which  are  now  rare  — 
were  favorite  dishes.  On  great  feast  days  the  wild 
boar's  head  was  thought  a  royal  dainty.  It  was  carried 
into  the  castle  hall  with  much  show  of  joy,  and  usually 
a  song  was  sung  as  it  was  laid  on  the  high  table ;  but 
if  such  music  was  wanting,  a  joyful  shout  took  its 
place. 

Besides  the  food  we  have  just  named,  the  richer 
people  fed  on  the  flesh  of  the  ox,  cow,  calf,  sheep,  and 
pig.  But  when  these  meats  were  brought  on  the  table 
they  were  called  by  Norman  names.  Thus  the  flesh  of 
the  ox  and  the  cow  was  named  beef ;  the  flesh  of  the 
calf  was  called  veal ;  that  of  the  sheep  was  known  as 
mutton ;  and  that  of  the  pig  was  called  pork. 

There  was  not  much  garden  produce  in  those  days, 
and  fruits  were  also  few.  Apples  and  pears  grew  in  the 
orchards  and  gooseberries  in  the  garden  ;  but  oranges, 
which  are  now  so  common,  were  never  seen  in  the  land. 
Potatoes,  cabbages,  carrots,  turnips,  celery,  lettuce,  which 
are  now  grown  in  every  poor  man's  plot  of  ground,  were 
then  unknown  in  England. 


15.     RICHARD   THE  LION-HEARTED. 

King   Richard  reigned  from   1189  to   1199. 

"  I  ^HERE  was  once  a  king  of  England  who  was  so 
±_  brave  and  daring  that  men  called  him  Richard 
the  Lion-hearted.  He  was  a  big,  strong,  handsome 
man,  with  great  blue  eyes  and  bright  yellow  hair.  No 
other  man  in  England  could  use  his  battle-axe ;  no 
man  could  keep  on  his  feet  or  hold  on  to  his  saddle 
against  the  thrust  of  his  lance. 

He  was  so  fond  of  war  that  as  soon  as  he  was  made 
king  he  set  off  to  the  Holy  Land  to  fight  against  the 
Saracens,  who  had  taken  the  Holy  City  from  the  Chris- 
tians. Many  other  Christian  princes  took  part  in  this 
Crusade,  as  it  was  called,  but  none  of  them  were  so 
brave  as  King  Richard.  Mounted  on  his  good  steed, 
with  his  huge  battle-axe  in  hand,  he  would  rush  alone 
into  the  midst  of  the  Saracens  and  cut  them  down  as  a 
reaper  cuts  down  grain. 

They  were  so  afraid  of  him  at  last  that  at  the  very 
sight  of  him  they  would  put  spurs  to  their  horses  and 
fly  for  their  lives.  Marching  or  camping,  the  Chris- 
tian army  had  always  to  strive  with  the  hot  air  of 
the  glaring  desert,  or  with  the  Saracen  soldiers  led  by 
the  brave  Saladin,  or  with  both  together.  Sickness 
and  death,  battle  and  wounds  beset  them  on  every 


RICHARD    THE    LION-HEARTED.  67 

hand ;  but  through  every  hardship  King  Richard  fought 
like  a  giant  and  worked  like  a  common  laborer. 

No  one  admired  this  king's  renown  for  bravery  more 
than  Saladin  himself,  who  was  a  generous  and  gallant 
enemy.  When  Richard  lay  ill  of  a  fever,  Saladin  sent 
him  fresh  fruits  from  Damascus  and  snow  from  the 
mountain  tops.  Courtly  messages  and  compliments  were 
often  exchanged  between  them,  and  then  King  Richard 
would  mount  his  horse  and  kill  as  many  Saracens  as  he 
could;  and  Saladin  would  mount  his  horse  and  kill  as 
many  Christians  as  he  could.  In  this  way  the  lion- 
hearted  king  fought  to  his  heart's  content. 

But  Richard  was  very  proud  and  had  a  hasty  temper, 
and  some  of  the  other  princes  began  to  dislike  him.  One 
by  one  they  went  away  and  left  him,  and  at  last  he  did  not 
have  troops  enough  to  carry  on  the  war.  Then  he  fell  very 
sick  of  fever  and  had  to  go  home  to  England.  The  Sar- 
acens, you  may  be  sure,  were  glad  to  get  rid  of  him. 

For  years  after  he  had  gone,  the  very  name  of 
Richard  was  a  word  of  fear  to  the  Saracens.  Long  and 
long  after  he  was  quiet  in  his  grave,  the  story  of 
Lion- Heart's  terrible  battle-axe,  with  twenty  pounds  of 
English  iron  in  its  mighty  head,  was  told  to  the  Saracen 
children  by  their  fathers.  If  a  horse  shied  at  a  shadow, 
his  master  would  say :  "  How  now  !  dost  thou  see  King 
Richard  ?  "  And  when  Saracen  mothers  used  to  rock 
their  babes  to  sleep,  they  would  say  to  them  :  "  Hush  ! 
Be  good,  or  I  will  give  you  to  King  Richard  ! " 


68  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

On  his  way  home,  Richard  was  wrecked  in  the  Gulf 
of  Venice,  and  found  himself  in  the  duke  of  Austria's 
country.  Now  this  duke  was  one  of  the  Christian  prin- 
ces who  did  not  like  the  English  king  and  had  had 
a  quarrel  with  him  in  the  Holy  Land.  King  Richard 
knew  that  the  duke  would  do  him  harm  if  he  could  ; 
so  he  dressed  himself  as  a  poor  man,  and,  taking  a  boy 
with  him,  tried  to  make  his  way  through  Germany. 

The  brave  king  fell  ill  on  the  way,  and  had  to  send  the 
boy  to  the  market  to  buy  food.  The  boy  had  a  rich  glove 
in  his  belt,  such  as  only  princes  and  nobles  wore ;  and 
when  the  people  saw  him  they  guessed  who  he  was,  and 
made  him  tell  where  his  master  was  staying.  A  band 
of  soldiers  came  to  the  house,  and  knocked  at  the  door. 
Richard  leaped  from  his  bed  and  drew  his  sword.  He 
was  too  weak  to  fight,  but  he  said  he  would  give  in  to 
no  one  but  their  leader.  Then  their  leader  stepped  out, 
and  who  should  it  be  but  the  duke  of  Austria !  So  the 
duke  got  Richard  in  his  power  and  had  him  sent  to  a 
lonely  castle  among  the  hills  ;  and  soldiers  were  set  over 
him  with  drawn  swords  to  watch  him  night  and'day. 

There  is  a  pretty  story  told  of  how  Richard's  prison 
was  found  out,  but  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  true. 
King  Richard  was  fond  of  music,  and  had  a  minstrel 
called  Blondel  who  was  often  with  him  and  whom  he 
liked  very  much.  The  king  and  Blondel  used  to  play 
and  sing  together,  and  there  was  one  song  they  sang 
that  the  king  himself  had  composed.  When  Blondel 


RICHARD    THE    LION-HEARTED.  69 

heard  that  King  Richard  was  in  prison,  he  set  off  for 
Germany  to  find  him.  He  went  about  from  castle  to 
castle,  but  could  see  nothing  or  hear  nothing  of  his 
royal  master. 

One  evening  he  came  to  a  lonely  castle  among  the 
hills,  and  as  he  felt  tired  and  weary,  he  sat  down  under 
the  walls  to  rest.  Soon  he  heard  a  sweet  voice  singing 
a  song  that  he  knew  right  well.  It  was  the  song  that 
the  king  had  composed.  Could  it  be  the  king  that  was 
singing  in  his  dungeon?  He  strained  his  ears  to 
listen.  When  the  first  verse  was  ended,  Blondel  took 
up  the  song,  and  sang  the  second  verse.  Then  the 
king  —  for  it  was  Richard  himself  —  knew  that  Blondel 
had  found  out  where  he  was  and  that  he  would  soon 
be  free  again. 

And  so  he  was.  His  own  people  loved  him  so  much 
that  they  paid  a  great  price  for  his  freedom  ;  and  when 
he  landed  in  England,  there  was  such  joy  as  the  people 
had  never  known  before. 

Troubles  in  England  and  war  abroad  again  roused 
the  lion-hearted  king  to  action.  His  old  enemy,  the 
king  of  France,  had  invaded  Normandy.  To  defend 
his  capital,  Rouen,  Richard  built  a  fortress  on  the 
river  Seine. 

"  I  will  take  it,  though  its  walls  be  of  iron,"  said 
Philip. 

"  I  will  hold  it,  were  the  walls  of  butter,"  Richard 
replied. 


7O  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

He  wanted  money  to  carry  on  the  war ;  but  before 
asking  his  people  in  England,  as  he  usually  did,  to  sup- 
ply his  needs,  he  heard  of  a  treasure  in  the  neighborhood. 
A  great  amount  of  gold,  it  was  said,  had  been  found 
buried  on  the  land  of  a  certain  nobleman.  Richard 
said  the  treasure  was  his. 

"You  may  have  half,  but  not  the  whole,"  said  the 


KING    RICHARD   ORDERS   THE    BOLD   ARCHER   TO    BE    SET    FREE. 

lord  of  the  castle.  Burning  with  rage,  Richard  attacked 
the  place.  During  the  contest  a  young  archer  named 
Bertrand  took  aim  at  the  king  and  lodged  an  arrow  in 


RICHARD    THE    LION-HEARTED.  71 

his  shoulder.  Richard's  army  stormed  the  place  and 
hanged  every  one  in  it  except  Bertrand,  whom  they 
brought  heavily  chained  to  the  wounded  king. 

"  What  have  I  done  to  thee,"  the  king  asked,  "  that 
thou  shouldst  take  my  life?  " 

"What  hast  thou  done?"  replied  the  young  man. 
"  Thou  hast  killed  my  father  and  my  two  brothers  with 
thine  own  hand.  I  have  killed  thee,  and  the  world  is 
rid  of  a  tyrant." 

"  I  forgive  thee,  boy,"  said  the  dying  Richard.  "Take 
off  his  chains,  give  him  a  hundred  shillings,"  he  added 
to  his  attendants,  "  and  let  him  go." 

The  king  sank  down  on  his  couch  and  died.  His 
age  was  forty-two  ;  he  had  reigned  ten  years.  His  last 
command  was  not  obeyed ;  for  the  bold  archer  was 
cruelly  put  to  death. 


16.     THE   SAD   STORY  OF  LITTLE   PRINCE   ARTHUR. 

King  John  reigned  from  1199  to  1216. 

JOHN,  called  Lackland,  came  to  the  throne  after  the 
death  of  his  brother,  Richard  the  Lion-hearted. 
Now  this  king  was  not  lion-hearted,  but  a  mean,  wicked, 
selfish,  and  cruel  man.  He  was  very  cruel  to  his  own 
people.  He  used  to  seize  rich  men,  throw  them  into 
prison,  and  torture  them  to  make  them  give  him  money. 

Now  many  said  that  Arthur  of  Brittany,  the  king's 
pretty  little  nephew,  ought  to  have  been  the  king ;  but 
Arthur  was  only  twelve  years,  of  age,  and  the  English 
liked  to  have  a  grown-up  man  as  king  rather  than  a 
little  boy.  The  cruel  uncle  at  last  made  up  his  mind 
to  get  rid  of  his  little  nephew.  He  seized  Arthur  and 
shut  him  up  in  a  gloomy  c'astle  called  Falaise. 

One  day  while  Arthur  was  in  prison  at  this  castle, 
thinking  it  strange  that  one  so  young  should  be  in  so 
much  trouble,  and  looking  at  the  summer  sky  and  the 
birds,  out  of  the  small  window  in  the  deep,  dark  wall,  the 
door  opened  softly  and  he  saw  his  uncle,  the  king,  stand- 
ing in  the  shadow  of  the  archway,  looking  very  grim. 

"  Arthur,"  said  the  king,  with  his  wicked  eyes  more 
on  the  stone  floor-  than  on  his  nephew,  "will  you  not 
trust  to  the  gentleness,  the  friendship,  and  the  truthful- 
ness of  your  loving  uncle  ?  " 


THE    SAD    STORY    OF    LITTLE    PRINCE    ARTHUR. 


73 


"  I  will  tell  my  loving  uncle  that,"  replied  the  boy, 
"  when  he  treats  me  right.  Let  him  restore  to  me  my 
kingdom  of  England,  and  then  come  to  me  and  ask  the 
question." 

The  king  looked  at  him  and  went  out.  "  Keep  that 
boy  close  prisoner,"  said  he  to  the  warden  of  the  castle. 
Then  the  king 

took  secret  coun- 

f 

sel  with  the  worst  / 
of  his  nobles  how ,/, 
the    prince   was 
to  be  got  rid  of.  ; 
Some  said,  "  Put 
out  his  eyes  and 
keep     him     in 
prison."    Others 
said,  "  Have  him 
stabbed";  others, 
hanged  " ;  others, 
poisoned." 

King  John,  feeling  that  in 
any  case,  whatever  was  done 
afterward,  it  would  be  a  satis- 
faction to  his  mind  to  have 
those  handsome  eyes  burned 
out  that  had  looked  at  him  so  proudly  while  his  own  royal 
eyes  were  blinking  on  the  stone  floor,  sent  certain  ruf- 
fians to  Falaise  to  blind  the  boy  with  red-hot  irons. 


Have 


PRINCE  ARTHUR   BEGS    HUBERT  TO 
SPARE  HIS  EYES. 


74  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

But  Arthur  shed  such  piteous  tears  and  so  appealed 
to  Hubert  de  Bourg,  the  warden  of  the  castle,  who  had 
a  love  for  him,  and  was  an  honorable,  tender  man,  that 
Hubert  could  not  bear  it.  He  saved  the  little  prince 
from  torture,  and,  at  his  own  risk,  sent  the  cruel  men 
away. 

The  disappointed  king  next  bethought  himself  of  the 
stabbing  suggestion,  and  proposed  it  to  one  William 
de  Bray.  "  I  am  a  gentleman  and  not  an  executioner," 
said  William  de  Bray,  and  left  the  presence  of  the 
tyrant  with  disdain.  But  it  was  not  difficult  for  the 
king  to  hire  a  murderer  in  those  days.  King  John 
found  one  for  his  money  and  sent  him  down  to  the 
castle  of  Falaise. 

"  On  what  errand  dost  thou  come  ? "  said  Hubert  to 
this  fellow. 

"  To  dispatch  young  Arthur,"  he  returned. 

"  Go  back  to  him  who  sent  thee,"  answered  Hubert, 
"  and  say  that  I  will  do  it ! " 

King  John,  knowing  very  well  that  Hubert  would 
never  do  it,  but  that  he  sent  this  reply  to  save  the 
prince  or  to  gain  time,  sent  messengers  to  carry  the 
young  prisoner  to  the  castle  of  Rouen. 

Arthur  was  soon  forced  from  the  good  Hubert,  car- 
ried away  by  night,  and  put  in  his  new  prison,  where, 
through  his  grated  window,  he  could  hear  the  deep 
waters  of  the  river  Seine  rippling  against  the  stone  wall 
below. 


THE    SAD    STORY    OF    LITTLE    PRINCE    ARTHUR.  75 

How  Prince  Arthur  died  has  never  been  known,  but 
this  story  of  his  death  has  been  told  for  these  many 
years. 

One  dark  night  as  he  lay  sleeping,  dreaming  perhaps 
of  rescue  by  those  unfortunate  friends  who  were  suffer- 
ing and  dying  in  his  cause,  he  was  roused  and  bade 
by  his  jailer  to  come  down  the  staircase  to  the  foot  of 
the  tower.  He  dressed  himself  hurriedly  and  obeyed. 
When  they  came  to  the  bottom  of  the  winding  stairs 
and  the  night  air  from  the  river  blew  upon  their  faces, 
the  jailer  trod  upon  his  torch  and  put  it  out. 

Then  Arthur  was  pushed  hurriedly  into  a  boat ;  and 
in  that  boat  he  found  his  uncle  and  one  other  man. 
He  knelt  to  them  and  prayed  them  not  to  murder  him. 
Deaf  to  his  entreaties,  they  stabbed  him  and  sank  his 
body  in  the  river  with  heavy  stones. 

When  the  spring  morning  broke,  the  tower  door  was 
closed,  the  boat  was  gone,  the  river  sparkled  on  its  way, 
and  never  more  was  there  any  trace  of  the  poor  little 
prince. 

At  last  things  came  to  such  a  pass  that  the  strong 
barons  of  England  took  the  business  into  their  own  hands, 
met  together,  and  swore  that  they  would  bind  the  king 
to  govern  justly  and  according  to  the  law.  They  drew 
up  a  set  of  laws,  some  old  and  some  new,  such  as  they 
thought  would  best  make  sure  the  liberties  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  and  keep  the  king  from  oppressing  them  as 
he  had  always  done. 


76 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


This  set  of  laws  is  called  the  "  Great  Charter." 
Very  few  people  have  done  so  much  lasting  good  to 
their  country  as  those  barons  who  drew  it  up  and  forced 
King  John  to  sign  it  in  the  year  1215.  He  was  furious 


KING    JOHN    IS    FORCED    TO    SIGN    THE    GREAT    CHARTER. 

at  being  obliged  to  agree  to  it,  and  at  first  quite  refused 
to  do  so ;  but  the  barons  were  too  strong  for  him. 
They  not  only  made  him  sign  the  charter,  but  named 


THE    SAD    STORY    OF    LITTLE    PRINCE    ARTHUR.  77 

twenty-four  barons  out  of  their  own  number  to  see 
that  he  lived  up  to  its  conditions. 

Every  one  thought  there  was  going  to  be  a 
dreadful  civil  war.  But  happily  for  England  and 
humanity,  the  death  of  the  wicked  king  was  near. 
While  he  was  crossing  a  dangerous  quicksand,  the 
tide  came  up  and  nearly  drowned  his  army.  He  and 
his  soldiers  escaped  ;  but  looking  back  from  the  shore 
when  he  was  safe,  he  saw  the  roaring  waters  sweep 
down  in  a  torrent,  overturn  the  wagons,  horses,  and 
men  that  carried  his  treasure,  and  engulf  them  in  a 
raging  whirlpool. 

Cursing  and  swearing,  King  John  went  to  an  abbey, 
where  the  monks  set  before  him  quantities  of  pears 
and  peaches  and  new  cider,  of  which  he  ate  and  drank 
like  a  glutton.  All  night  he  lay  ill  of  a  burning  fever, 
haunted  with  horrible  fears. 

Next  day  his  servants  put  their  royal  master  into 
a  litter  and  carried  him  to  a  castle,  where  he  passed 
.another  night  of  pain  and  horror.  Next  day  they  car- 
ried him,  with  greater  difficulty  than  on  the  day  before, 
to  another  castle ;  and  there  this  cruel  and  wicked  king 
breathed  his  last. 


17.     THE   BLACK  PRINCE   AT   THE   BATTLE   OF  CRECY. 

In  the  Year  1346. 

ONE  of  the  bravest  and  best-loved  kings  that 
England  ever  had  was  -  King  Edward  the  Third. 
He  was  a  wise  man,  just  and  kind  to  his  own  people, 
but  he  was  very  fond  of  war ;  and,  like  most  warriors, 
he  was  now  and  then  very  cruel. 

He  had  a  son  who  was  so  gentle  and  brave  and  hand- 
some that  all  men  loved  him  ;  and  as  he  wore  black 
armor,  they  called  him  the  Black  Prince. 

When  King  Edward's  uncle,  the  king  of  France, 
died  and  left  no  son,  Edward  thought  he  had  a  right  to 
the  French  throne ;  and  when  his  cousin  was  made 
king  instead  of  him,  he  went  over  to  France  and  made 
war  against  him. 

The  Black  Prince,  who  was  then  sixteen  years  old, 
went  with  his  father ;  and  they  won  many  battles 
against  the  French,  one  of  which,  called  the  battle  of 
Crecy,  I  will  now  tell  you  about. 

The  English  had  come  to  a  village  called  Crecy, 
which  is  in  the  north  of  France,  when  they  heard  that 
the  French  king,  with  an  army  three  times  as  large  as 
theirs,  was  coming  up  to  fight  them.  So  the  English 
king  told  his  soldiers  to  halt,  and  with  great  skill  he 
drew  them  up  in  line  of  battle  on  a  hillside  near  Crecy. 


THE  BLACK  PRINCE  AT  THE  BATTLE  OF  CRECY.    79 

As  he  rode  from  rank  to  rank,  cheering  his  soldiers 
and  giving  his  orders,  he  looked  so  noble  and  brave  that 
every  man  felt  sure  he  would  win  the  battle.  When  he 
had  seen  that  his  soldiers  were  in  good  trim  and  ready 
for  the  fight,  he  told  them  to  sit  down  and  eat  and  rest 
themselves,  and  gave  orders  for  every  man  to  have  a 
cup  of  good  wine. 

As  the  French  came  in  sight,  the  English  leaped  to 
their  feet  and  set  up  a  great  shout,  and  would  have 
rushed  to  meet  them,  but  the  king  kept  them  in  check. 
"  Steady,  men,  steady  !  "  he  said  ;  "  there  must  be  no 
noise,  no  breaking  of  your  ranks."  Then  the  soldiers 
stood  still  and  waited  in  silence  for  the  coming  of  the 
French. 

But  while  they  were  yet  afar  off,  big  black  clouds 
came  sweeping  across  the  sky,  the  lightning  flashed, 
the  thunder  rolled,  and  the  rain  came  pelting  down. 
Then  the  sky  grew  clear  again,  and  the  sun  shone  out 
bright  and  warm,  for  it  was  a  summer  afternoon.  As 
soon  as  the  storm  was  over,  the  French  archers,  who 
were  in  front  of  the  army,  came  on  with  a  shout  and  let 
fly  their  arrows  at  the  English.  But  the  rain  had  wet 
their  bowstrings,  and  their  arrows  all  fell  short. 

Then  the  English  archers,  who  had  kept  their  bows 
dry  in  cases,  drew  their  bowstrings  to  their  ears  and  took 
good  aim.  The  arrows  fell  thick  and  fast,  as  you  have 
seen  the  snowflakes  fall  on  a  winter  day,  and  pierced 
the  faces  and  hands  and  bodies  of  the  Frenchmen 


8O  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

through  and  through.  No  men  could  have  stood  up 
against  a  fire  so  true  and  fierce,  and  the  French  bow- 
men soon  turned  on  their  heels  and  ran. 

But  the  French  horsemen  came  bravely  on.  They 
spurred  their,  horses  into  the  midst  of  the  English,  and 
kept  up  a  fierce  fight  till  dusk.  The  Black  Prince,  who 
led  the  English  knights,  drove  the  French  back  again 
and  again  ;  but  as  fast  as  they  were  beaten  back,  more 
came  on,  and  it  was  hard  work  for  the  prince  to  hold 
his  ground.  A  knight  who  saw  what  danger  he  was  in 
rode  off  to  the  king,  who  was  watching  the  battle,  and 
asked  him  to  send  help  to  the  prince. 

"  Is  my  son  killed  or  hurt  ? "  said  the  king. 

"  No,  sire,"  said  the  knight. 

"  Then  tell  him,"  said  the  king,  "  he  shall  have  no 
help  from  me.  Let  the  boy  win  the  battle  himself,  and 
the  glory  of  the  day  shall  be  his." 

The  king's  words  gave  the  prince  and  his  soldiers 
more  courage.  They  dashed  at  the  French  with  all 
their  might.  The  French  king  was  wounded,  and  fled 
for  his  life ;  his  best  captains  were  cut  down  and  killed ; 
and  as  darkness  came  on,  the  whole  French  army 
turned  and  ran  away,  leaving  thousands  of  their  com- 
rades dead  upon  the  field. 

It  was  quite  dark,  and  camp  fires  had  been  lighted  and 
the  torches  were  blazing  when  the  king  came  forth  to 
meet  his  son.  He  took  the  boy  in  his  arms,  and,  clasp- 
ing him  to  his  breast,  said  to  him  : 


THE    BLACK    PRINCE    AT    THE    BATTLE    OF    CRECY.        8 1 

"  My  son,  my  dear  son,  may  God  give  you  grace  to 
go  on  as  you  have  begun.  You  have  done  nobly  this 
day,  and  shown  that  you  are  worthy  to  be  a  king." 


KING    EDWARD   COMMENDS   THE    BLACK    PRINCE 
FOR    HIS    BRAVERY. 

The  boy  looked  down  and  blushed,  and  said  all  the 
praise  was  due  to  his  father ;  and  when  King  Edward 
saw  how  brave  his  son  had  been  in  battle,  and  how 


82  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

modest  he  was  after  it,  this  gave  him  more  joy  than 
the  great  victory  of  Crecy. 

Among  those  killed  in  the  battle  was  the  old  blind 
king  of  Bohemia.  When  he  found  that  the  French  were 
losing,  he  asked  the  knights  who  were  near  him  to 
lead  him  into  the  thick  of  the  fight,  so  that  he  might 
strike  at  least  one  good  blow.  They  did  so,  and 
he  fell. 

Young  Edward  took  for  his  crest,  three  ostrich 
feathers,  and  for  his  motto,  two  German  words,  meaning 
"  I  serve  " ;  and  these  are  the  crest  and  motto  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales  to  this  day.  You  may  be  sure  that  the 
English  were  very  proud  of  their  brave  young  prince. 

This  battle  of  Crecy  was  only  one  of  the  many  vic- 
tories that  were  won  by  the  Black  Prince.  His  good- 
ness and  gentleness  made  everybody  love  him,  and  his 
valor  in  battle  gave  the  English  hopes  that  he  would 
prove  as  good  a  king  as  his  father.  This  brave  prince 
did  not  live  to  be  king  of  England,  but  died  in  1376. 
The  very  next  year  his  father  died,  having  reigned 
fifty-one  years. 


18.     THE  GOOD  QUEEN  AND  THE   BRAVE  CITIZENS. 

In  the  Year  1347. 


EDWARD  the  Third,  after  his  victory  at 
Crecy,  marched  on  till  he  came  to  the  town  of 
Calais,  a  seaport  on  the  northeast  coast  of  France. 

Now  the  king  was  vexed  with  the  people  of  this 
town  ;  for  many  of  them  were  pirates,  and  had  often 
taken  English  ships  and  burned  them,  and  tried  to 
ruin  the  trade  of  England  on  the  seas. 

But  Calais  was  a  very  strong  city,  with  thick,  high 
walls  and  a  deep  ditch  round  it;  and  King  Edward 
thought  it  would  be  easier  to  starve  the  people  out 
than  to  break  down  the  walls  and  take  the  town  by 
force.  So  he  drew  up  his  soldiers  in  a  circle  round 
Calais,  to  keep  the  people  from  taking  food  into  the 
city,  and  gave  orders  for  his  fleet  to  cruise  off  the 
coast  and  stop  every  ship  that  tried  to  get  in  or  out 
of  the  port. 

Now  and  again  a  French  ship  would  steal  in  by 
night  with  bread  for  the  starving  people  ;  but  what 
was  one  shipload  or  ten  shiploads  among  so  many  ! 
Yet  they  held  out  for  a  whole  year  ;  and  when  their 
meat  was  gone,  they  ate  horses  and  dogs  and  cats 
and  rats,  rather  than  give  in  to  the  English. 

At  last  there  was  nothing  left  to  eat.      The  people 


84  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

had  become  lean  and  pale  and  sickly ;  and  they  sent 
word  to  King  Edward  that  they  would  give  up  the  city 
if  he  would  spare  their  lives  and  let  them  go  free.  But 
the  king  was  angry  and  would  not  hear  of  it. 

"  If  the  men  of  Calais,"  he  said,  "  will  send  me  six  of 
the  chief  citizens,  having  their  heads  and  feet  bare  and 
with  ropes  around  their  necks  and  the  keys  of  their 
city  in  their  hands,  I  will  work  my  will  on  these  six, 
but  I  will  spare  all  the  rest." 

Then  the  great  church  bell  was  rung  to  call  the 
people  of  Calais  together.  When  they  heard  what  the 
king  had  said,  they  wept  and  wrung  their  hands,  but  no 
one  spoke  a  word.  At  last  one  of  the  chief  men,  who 
was  the  richest  in  town,  stood  up  and  said,  "  Friends  ! 
what  a  pity  it  is  to  let  so  many  die  when  six  of  us  can 
save  them.  For  myself,  I  have  hope  in  God  that  if  I 
give  up  my  life  for  the  people,  I  shall  have  pardon  for 
my  sins.  So  I  will  be  the  first  one  of  the  six  to  go 
out  with  my  head  and  feet  bare  and  a  rope  around  my 
neck,  and  give  myself  up  to  the  English  king." 

This  noble  speech  fired  the  hearts  of  all  who  heard 
it.  Then  another  citizen  stood  up  and  said  that  he 
would  give  his  life  ;  and  so  did  a  third  and  a  fourth 
and  a  fifth  and  a  sixth.  As  the  six  pale,  thin,  hollow- 
eyed  citizens  passed  out  of  the  city  gates,  with  ropes 
round  their  necks  and  the  keys  of  their  town  in  their 
hands,  there  was  not  a  dry  eye  in  all  the  crowd  that 
came  to  see  them  and  bless  them  as  they  went. 


THE  GOOD  QUEEN  AND  THE  BRAVE  CITIZENS.     85 

When  they  came  where  the  king  was,  they  fell  on 
their  knees  and  said,  "  Gentle  king,  we  are  six  of  the 
chief  citizens  of  Calais,  who  come  to  put  ourselves  at 
your  mercy  to  save  the  rest  of  our  people ;  have  pity 
on  us  if  it  is  your  good  will."  It  is  said  that  even  the 
English  knights  and  soldiers  shed  tears  at  this  pitiful 
sight. 

King  Edward  alone  remained  stern,  severe,  and 
unmoved  by  the  sight  of  so  much  heroism.  And 
although  those  around  him  begged  him  to  show  mercy, 
he  gave  orders  for  the  six  brave  men  of  Calais  to  be 
hanged  at  once.  "Away  with  them,"  he  said ;  "  the  men 
of  Calais  have  killed  so  many  of  my  people  that  I  will 
have  the  lives  of  these  six." 

This  cruel  deed  was  about  to  be  done  when  for- 
tunately the  king's  wife,  the  good  Queen  Philippa,  was 
moved  by  this  sorrowful  news.  She  had  quite  lately 
come  over  from  England  to  join  her  husband ;  and 
while  all  this  was  going  on  she  was  in  her  tent  close  by. 
When  she  was  told*  how  hard  and  cruel  the  king  was 
in  his  purpose,  she  threw  herself  in  tears  at  his  feet 
and  prayed  him  for  her  sake  to  be  merciful,  and  let 
the  poor  men  go  free. 

"  My  gentle  lord,"  she  said,  "  I  have  crossed  the  sea 
at  great  peril  to  see  you,  and  I  have  not  yet  asked 
a  favor  from  you.  I  pray  you,  now,  for  Heaven's  sake 
and  for  love  of  me,  your  wife,  that  you  will  have  mercy 
on  these  six  men." 


QUEEN  PHILIPPA   ENTREATS   THE    KING  TO    SPARE   THE    LIVES   OF  THE 
SIX  HEROIC    CITIZENS    OF   CALAIS. 


THE  GOOD  QUEEN  AND  THE  BRAVE  CITIZENS.    .87 

The  king  knit  his  brows  and  was  silent  awhile  ;  then 
he  said,  "  Lady,  I  wish  you  had  been  elsewhere  !  You 
beg  in  such  a  way  that  I  cannot  deny  you.  Take  these 
six  men  ;  I  give  them  to  you.  Do  with  them  as  you 
will ! " 

The  good  queen  took  the  six  men  and  gave  them 
new  clothes  to  put  on,  and  feasted  them  and  sent  them 
away  with  rich  presents,  to  the  great  rejoicing  of  the 
whole  camp. 

Calais  was  given  up  to  the  English  king,  and  it 
became  an  English  town  for  more  than  two  hundred 
years. 

It  has  been  said  that  cannon  were  used  for  the  first 
time  in  battle  at  Crecy,  but  this  is  uncertain.  In  the 
siege  of  Calais,  however,  cannon  were  used,  but  they 
were  too  poorly  made  and  loaded  with  too  little  gun- 
powder to  do  much  damage. 


19.     HOW   WAT   TYLER   LED   A  REVOLT   OF  THE   COMMON 

PEOPLE. 

In  the  Year  1381. 

RICHARD  the  Second  was  the  son  of  the  brave 
and  noble  Black  Prince  ;  but  he  was  a  very  weak 
king.  He  came  to  the  throne  when  he  was  quite  a 
little  boy,  on  the  death  of  his  grandfather  Edward  the 
Third.  The  whole  English  nation  was  ready  to  admire 
the  young  king  for  the  sake  of  his  father. 

As  to  the  lords  and  ladies  about  the  court,  they 
declared  him  to  be  the  most  beautiful,cthe  wisest,  and 
the  best,  even  of  princes. 

Now  I  must  tell  you  that  in  those  days  the  poor 
were  badly  treated  by  the  rich.  Some  of  the  poorest 
people  were  slaves.  They  were  made  to  work  on  the 
same  farm  all  their  lives,  and  could  be  sold  by  their 
masters  like  cows  or  horses.  Even  those  poor  people 
who  were  free  and  lived  in  towns  had  to  work  hard  for 
low  wages.  They  were  kept  down  by  the  rich  and 
made  to  pay  heavy  taxes,  when  they  could  earn  barely 
money  enough  to  keep  themselves  alive. 

One  day  an  officer  was  going  from  house  to  house 
to  gather  the  taxes  in  a  little  town  in  Kent,  when  he 
stopped  at  the  cottage  of  a  tiler  named  Wat.  The 
poor  man  was  at  his  work  close  by,  laying  tiles  on  the 
roof  of  a  house,  and  only  his  wife  and  daughter  were 


HOW    WAT    TYLER    LED    A    REVOLT.  89 

at  home.  Wat  the  tiler,  or  Wat  Tyler,  as  we  call  him 
now,  saw  the  man  go  into  his  cottage,  and  soon  after 
heard  a  loud  scream.  In  an  instant  he  jumped  down 
from  the  roof,  ran  into  his  house,  and,  seeing  the  officer 
rude  to  his  daughter,  struck  him  on  the  head  with  his 
hammer  and  killed  him. 

So  when  Wat  Tyler  killed  the  brutal  officer,  all  the 
poor  people  in  the  villages  round  about  took  his  part. 
They  agreed  to  go  to  London  to  lay  their  complaints 
before  the  king  and,  if  need  be,  to  fight  for  what  they 
thought  to  be  their  rights.  Before  many  days  had 
passed,  thousands  of  poor,  rough,  wild-looking  men, 
some  with  bows,  some  with  rusty  old  swords,  and  many 
with  scythes  fastened  to  the  end  of  poles,  were  on  the 
march  to  London.  Wat  Tyler  rode  at  their  head. 

When  the  rebels  arrived  in  London  they  marched 
up  and  down  the  streets,  burning  the  houses  of  the 
rich,  breaking  open  the  doors  of  the  prisons,  and  strik- 
ing off  the  head  of  every  man  they  met  who  would  not 
say  he  was  "  for  King  Richard  and  the  common  people." 
The  gold  and  silver  plate  that  they  found  in  rich  men's 
houses  'they  ruined  with  their  hammers,  but  they  took 
none  of  it  away.  They  were  so  angry  with  one  man 
who  stole  a  silver  cup  and  hid  it  in  his  clothes,  that 
they  flung  him  into  the  river,  cup  and  all. 

The  young  king,  who  was  only  sixteen,  rode  up  to 
them  and  called  out,  "  What  is  it  you  want,  my  men  ?  " 

"  We  want  you  to  make  us  free,"  they  said. 


9O  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

The  king  said  he  would  give  them  freedom,  and  told 
them  to  go  back  to  their  homes.  But  Wat  Tyler,  with 
many  thousands  of  rebels,  stayed  in  London. 

Next  day  King  Richard  met  them  again,  and  Tyler 
rode  up  to  have  a  talk  with  the  king.  While  he  was 
speaking  in  his  rough  way,  he  laid  his  hand  on  the 
king's  bridle.  Upon  this,  the  lord  Mayor  of  London, 
thinking^the  king  in  danger,  plunged  his  dagger  into 
Tyler's  neck. 

Wat  fell  bleeding  from  his  horse,  and  one  of  the 
king's  servants  thrust  his  sword  into  him  and  put  an 
end  to  his  life.  In  an  instant  the  rebels  bent  their 
bows  and  shouted,  "  Kill !  kill !  "  But  the  young  king 
saved  himself  by  his  coolness.  Riding  up  to  the 
mob,  he  said  to  them,  "  What  are  you  doing,  my  good 
men  ?  Tyler  was  a  traitor.  I  will  be  your  leader ; 
follow  me  ! " 

And  they  followed  him  to  where  his  soldiers  were 
lying  in  wait ;  and  when  the  rebels  saw  the  trap  they 
had  fallen  into,  they  craved  the  king's  pardon  and 
laid  down  their  arms  and  went  quietly  back  to  their 
homes. 

It  would  be  very  much  pleasanter  if  we  could  say 
that  the  young  king  kept  his  promise  ;  but  he  did  not. 
Perhaps  he  was  not  able,  for  he  was  only  a  boy  and  the 
government  was  not  in  his  own  hands.  There  was 
a  good  deal'of  blood  shed,  and  many  hundreds  of  rebels 
were  put  to  death  before  the  rebellion  was  crushed. 


HOW    WAT    TYLER    LED    A    REVOLT.  9 1 

The  young  king's  presence  of  mind  on  this  occasion 
gave  the  people  great  hopes  that  he  would  become 
a  wise  and  a  good  king,  but  these  hopes  were  not  ful- 
filled. Richard  was  too  fond  of  ease  and  pomp,  as  well 
as  dress,  to  make  a  king  fit  to  rule  the  English,  who 
were  always  ready  for  war.  What  he  said  one  day  he 
was  apt  to  change  the  next,  and  so  lost  the  love  of  his 
people. 

King  Richard  was  put  to  a  cruel  death  in  1399,  and 
his  cousin  Henry  came  to  the  throne  by  the  title  of 
Henry  the  Fourth. 

The  spirit  of  freedom  which  was  aroused  at  this 
time  in  the  minds  of  the  people  never  died  out.  Each 
succeeding  year  it  grew  stronger.  Wat  Tyler's  revolt 
was  really  the  beginning  of  the  long  struggle  on  the 
part  of  the  English  people  to  be  free,  both  in  mind 
and  in  body. 


20.     PRINCE   HAL   AND  THE  GREAT  VICTORY   OF   AGINCOURT. 

In  the  Year  1415. 

DRINCE  HAL  was  the  nickname  given  to  the 
*  eldest  son  of  King  Henry  the  Fourth.  When  his 
father  died  and  he  came  to  the  throne,  he  was  called 
Henry  the  Fifth. 

Now  I  must  tell  you  that  this  young  prince  was 
sometimes  wild.  His  love  of  fun  often  carried  him 
too  far ;  and  he  became  a  source  of  great  grief  to  his 
father. 

Henry  the  Fourth  had  robbed  his  cousin  Richard 
the  Second  of  his  throne,  —  some  said  of  his  life,  too, 
—  and  plots  were  often  formed  against  Henry  by  his 
enemies. 

One  day  one  of  Prince  Hal's  idle  companions  was 
brought  before  the  chief-justice  of  England  for  the 
crime  of  robbery,  was  condemned,  and  sent  to  prison. 

When  the  prince  was  told  of  this,  he  hurried  to  the 
court  where  the  judge  was  still  sitting,  and  rudely 
demanded  that  his  friend  should  be  set  free  at  once. 
The  judge  spoke  very  quietly  and  told  the  prince  to 
remember  that  no  man,  not  even  the  king  himself,  was 
free  to  break  the  laws  of  the  land. 

At  this  the  prince,  more  angry  than  before,  cried  out, 
"  If  you  will  not  hear  my  words,  you  shall  feel  my 


THE    GREAT    VICTORY    OF    AGINCOURT.  93 

blows  !  "  and,  drawing  his  sword,  was  about  to  rush  at 
the  chief-justice.  The  judge  was  not  in  the  least  afraid, 
but  said  firmly,  "  Withdraw,  sir,  from  this  court ! "  This 
only  made  the  prince  more  furious  than  ever ;  and  he 
rushed  forward  and  struck  the  chief-justice  as  he  sat 
upon  the  bench. 

The  prince  was  at  once  seized.  The  judge  still  kept 
his  temper,  and  said  in  a  firm,  clear  voice  :  "  Prince, 
I  sit  here  in  the  place  of  our  sovereign  lord,  your  king 
and  father.  As  his  son  and  subject,  you  are  doubly 
bound  to  obey  him ;  and  in  his  name  I  order  you  to 
be  taken  to  prison,  there  to  remain  until  the  king's  will 
be  known  ! " 

The  prince,  with  a  brave  man's  respect  for  courage 
in  others,  at  once  changed  his  mood,  gave  up  his  sword, 
bowed  low  to  the  judge,  and  went  off  to  prison  without 
speaking  one  word. 

When  the  king  was  told  of  what  had  occurred,  he 
exclaimed  :  "  God,  I  thank  thee  for  giving  me  a  judge 
who  has  the  courage  to  put  the  laws  in  force,  and  a  son 
who  knows  how  to  obey  them  ! " 

When  the  prince  afterwards  became  king,  instead  of 
showing  anger  against  this  good  and  brave  judge,  as 
a  mean  man  would  have  done,  he  treated  him  with  the 
greatest  respect. 

However  badly  Prince  Hal  behaved  before  he  was 
king,  it  is  certain  that  he  changed  his  wild  ways  after 
he  came  to  the  throne.  Among  the  very  first  things 


94  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

he  did  after  he  became  king  was  to  prepare  for  renew- 
ing the  war  with  France,  as  there  had  been  none  for 
some  years.  So  Henry  led  an  army  over  into  that 
country. 

It  was  not  a  very  large  army  at  first,  and  there  was 
soon  so  much  illness  among  the  men  that  in  a  very  short 
time  only  about  one-half  of  it  was  left.  But  the  king 
had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  give  in.  He  marched  on 
until  he  met  the  great  French  host,  and  then  he  got 
ready  for  battle.  The  king  saw  to  everything  himself 
and  kept  up  the  hearts  of  his  men  by  his  own  cheerful- 
ness. 

When  some  one  said  what  a  pity  it  was  that  they 
had  not  with  them  some  of  the  brave  men  who  were 
left  at  home  in  England,  King  Henry  declared  that  he 
did  not  wish  to  have  one  more.  "  If  God  gives  us 
victory,"  he  said,  "  the  fewer  we  are  the  more  honor 
there  will  be  to  share  among  us.  If  not,  the  fewer  we 
are  the  smaller  the  loss  will  be  to  England."  The  Eng- 
lish soldiers,  being  now  all  in  good  heart,  were  refreshed 
with  bread  and  wine,  and  heard  prayers  and  waited 
quietly  for  the  French. 

The  English  archers  at  the  outset  drove  back  the 
French  horse,  blinding  them  with  their  arrows  and 
confusing  them  so  that  they  rolled  over  one  another  and 
trampled  on  their  riders.  Then  eighteen  French  knights 
came  up  who  had  sworn  to  kill  the  English  king ;  but 
he  and  those  around  him  fought  so  bravely  that  not  one 


THE    GREAT    VICTORY    OF    AGINCOURT.  95 

of  those  eighteen  got  away  alive.  Everybody  could 
see  where  Henry  was  because  he  wore  a  gold  crown 
over  his  helmet.  A  piece  of  the  crown  was  struck  off 
once  while  he  was  guarding  the  royal  flag,  but  he  him- 
self was  not  hurt. 

The  English,  seeing  their  king  always  in  the  thick 
of  the  battle,  fought  like  lions.  The  French  fought 
bravely,  too,  but  it  was  of  no  use.  Before  night  had 
come,  all  those  who  were  not  killed  or  made  prisoners 
had  run  away,  and  left  the  English  flag  floating  in 
truimph  over  the  field  of  the  battle  of  Agincourt. 

The  English  people  welcomed  their  brave  king  home 
with  shouts  of  rejoicing,  and  plunged  into  the  water  to 
bear  him  ashore  on  their  shoulders.  They  flocked  in 
crowds  to  welcome  him  in  every  town  through  which 
he  passed.  They  hung  out  of  their  windows  rich 
carpets  and  tapestries,  and  strewed  the  streets  with 
flowers. 


21.     BRAVE   KNIGHTS   AND  HOW   THEY   FOUGHT   IN  OLDEN 

TIMES. 

WE  have  been  told  a  great  deal  about  the  bold  and 
gallant  deeds  of  the  old-time  warriors.  Let  us 
now  read  of  the  trials  and  hard  service  these  men  went 
through  to  fit  themselves  the  better  for  the  tests  of 
daily  life  and  the  battlefield. 

The  title  of  knight  was  the  highest  that  could  be 
given  to  a  soldier,  and  was  given  only  to  those  who 
had  proved  themselves  to  be  very  brave  on  the  field 
of  battle. 

A  knight  wore  a  pair  of  costly  spurs  and  a  rich  belt 
to  distinguish  him  from  other  men.  He  was  treated 
with  great  respect  by  others.  No  one  could  look  down 
upon  him,  not  even  the  king,  who  was  generally  a 
knight  himself.  Even  if  a  man  should  spring  from  the 
lowest  rank  and  become  a  knight,  he  was  then  con- 
sidered a  gentleman  and  free  to  associate  with  the 
highest  in  the  land. 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that  nearly  every  gentle- 
man's son  in  the  country  would  wish  to  be  a  knight ; 
but  to  become  one  he  had  to  go  through  a  very  long 
training. 

The  sons  of  nobles  first  became  pages  in  the  house- 
hold of  some  knight.  They  were  then  taught  how  to 


BRAVE    KNIGHTS    IN    OLDEN    TIMES.  97 

handle  a  sword.  This  was  done  by  sketching  on 
the  trunk  of  a  tree  the  image  of  a  man,  marked  in 
places  to  correspond  with  the  parts  of  the  human  body. 
The  page  had  to  thrust  at  this  with  his  sword  until  he 
could  hit  any  part  he  wished. 

He  was  then  taught  how  to  manage  a  horse,  and 
to  use  a  lance  while  on  horseback.  He  then  had  to 
ride  at  a  pole  set  upright  in  the  earth  with  a  shield 
fastened  to  it  with  thongs  of  leather,  and  try  to  lift  the 
shield  and  carry  it  away  with  his  lance. 

Another  step  in  his  training  was  to  ride  on  horse- 
back and  strike  with  his  lance  the  breast  of  a  wooden 
Saracen.  If  he  failed  to  hit  the  figure  fairly  in  the 
center,  it  turned  on  a  spindle  and  struck  him  on  the 
back  with  a  wooden  sword. 

When  the  page  was  strong  enough  and  could  use 
his  weapons  well,  he  became  a  kind  of  a  body  servant 
called  a  squire.  He  then  had  to  follow  his  master  into 
battle  and  to  put  into  practice  what  he  had  learned 
as  a  page.  After  serving  some  years  as  a  squire,  if  he 
had  proved  himself  brave  in  war  he  was  considered  fit 
to  be  made  a  knight. 

Perhaps  you  would  like  to  know  just  how  a  knight 
was  made.  Let  me  tell  you.  In  the  first  place,  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  ceremony.  The  squire  had  to 
spend  several  nights  in  church,  watching  and  praying ; 
and  he  also  had  to  watch  his  armor  hanging  over 
the  altar  for  at  least  one  night.  The  next  morning, 


98 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


after  a  service  in  church,  he  was  brought  to  the  king 
or  to  some  ^  great  noble,  who  then  struck  him  on  the 
back  with  the  flat  of  a  sword,  and  at  the  same  time  said 
with  a  loud  voice,  "  In  the  name  of  God,  St.  Michael, 


A    CONTEST    BETWEEN    KNIGHTS     IN    THE    OLDEN    TIMES. 

and  St.  George,  I  name  thee  knight ;    be  brave,  hardy, 
and  loyal."     The  spurs  of  the  new  knight  were   then 
buckled  on  him  by  the  ladies  who  were  present. 
Sometimes,  however,  a  knight  was  made  at  once  on 


BRAVE    KNIGHTS    IN    OLDEN    TIMES.  99 

the  field  of  battle  for  some  very  brave  deed,  and  this 
was  considered  a  great  honor. 

On  great  festivals  it  was  a  common  practice  for 
knights  to  have  battles  with  each  other,  to  see  which 
of  them  was  the  best  horseman  or  the  most  skillful  in 
the  use  of  the  lance.  The  contests  were  called  tourna- 
ments, and  were  carried  out  in  the  following  way. 

A  great  space  in  an  open  meadow  was  fenced  in  with 
wooden  barriers.  The  space  was  called  the  lists,  and 
the  barriers  were  made  of  such  a  height  that  persons 
could  see  over  them.  Crowds  of  people  stood  outside 
the  barriers  to  see  the  battle.  In  one  part  of  the  lists 
a  great  wooden  stand  was  made,  in  which  sat  the  king 
and  his  nobles  with  their  wives  and  daughters. 

All  knights  who  wished  to  test  their  valor  hung  up 
their  shields  inside  the  lists.  A  knight,  having  decided 
in  his  own  mind  with  whom  he  would  like  to  contend, 
touched  the  shield  with  his  lance.  The  owner  of  the 
shield  then  had  to  come  out  and  fight. 

The  two  knights,  mounted  on  horses  and  covered 
with  armor,  then  went  to  opposite  sides  of  the  lists  and 
waited  for  a  signal.  When  this  was  given  they  put 
spurs  to  their  horses  and  rushed  at  each  other  with 
their  lances. 

The  object  of  each  was  to  strike  the  other  with  his 
lance  in  such  a  way  as  to  throw  him  from  his  saddle. 
The  one  who  fell  was  declared  beaten  and  had  to 
leave  the  lists.  If  the  two  knights  were  equal  in 


100  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

strength,  perhaps  neither  fell  from  his  horse,  although 
their  lances  might  be  broken  into  pieces.  In  battles  of 
this  kind  the  sharp  points  of  the  lances  were  taken  off, 
so  that  the  knights  should  not  kill  each  other. 

The  knight  who  on  the  first  day  of  the  tournament 
was  thought  to  have  done  the  best,  had  the  privilege  of 
selecting  among  the  ladies  present  the  one  whom  he 
thought  the  most  beautiful,  and  she  was  then  elected 
"  Queen  of  Love."  She  sat  in  a  high  place,  and  when 
the  tournament  was  ended  she  gave  the  prizes  to  the 
victorious  knights.  The  last  day  of  the  tournament 
was  generally  given  up  to  a  battle  between  a  number 
of  knights. 

Sometimes,  however,  in  tournaments,  the  knights 
fought  with  sharp  lances.  If  a  knight  happened  to 
be  thrown  from  his  horse  and  not  killed,  then  the 
knights  drew  their  swords  and  fought  till  one  of  them 
was  killed,  or  the  king  gave  the  signal  to  stop. 

Knights  often  fought  in  this  way  when  they  had 
quarreled  with  one  another.  Again,  if  one  knight 
was  accused  by  another  of  wrongdoing,  then  the  one 
accused  might  challenge  the  other  to  fight.  If  he  won, 
he  was  considered  innocent ;  but  if  beaten,  he  was 
judged  to  be  guilty.  This  was  called  trial  by  battle. 


22.     QUEEN  MARGARET  AND  THE   ROBBER. 

War  of  the  Roses,  from  1455  to  I4^5- 

ONE  day  when  roses  were  in  bloom,  two  noblemen 
came  to  angry  words  in  the  Temple  Garden,  by 
the  side  of  the  river  Thames.  In  the  midst  of  their 
quarrel  one  of  them  plucked  a  white  rose  from  a  bush, 
and,  turning  to  those  who  were  near  him,  said  :  "  He 
who  will  stand  by  me  in  this  quarrel,  let  him  pluck  a 
white  rose  with  me  and  wear  it  in  his  hat." 

Then  the  other  nobleman  tore  a  red  rose  from 
another  bush,  and  said  :  u  Let  him  who  will  stand  by 
me  pluck  a  red  rose  and  wear  it  as  his  badge."  Now 
this  quarrel  was  a  very  sad  thing  indeed,  for  it  led  to  a 
great  civil  war,  that  is,  a  war  in  which  people  of  the 
same  nation  fight  one  against  the  other. 

It  was  called  the  "War  of  the  Roses,"  for  every  soldier 
wore  a  white  or  red  rose  on  his  helmet,  to  show  on 
which  side  he  fought. 

The  king  Henry  the  Sixth,  and  his  wife,  Queen 
Margaret,  sided  with  the  "  Red  Roses,"  and  it  was  a  sad 
sight  to  see  the  king  and  all  the  great  nobles  trying  to 
kill  each  other. 

You  will  read  some  day  of  all  the  great  battles  that 
were  fought  and  all  the  wicked  deeds  that  were  done 
during  those  dreadful  times.  Let  me  tell  you  now  one 


102  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

story  of  the  war  to  show  you  what  a  cruel  thing 
war  is. 

In  a  battle  at  a  place  called  Hexham,  the  king's  party 
was  beaten,  and  Queen  Margaret  with  her  little  son 
had  to  flee  for  her  life.  She  had  not  gone  far  from  the 
battlefield  when  she  was  met  by  a  band  of  savage  rob- 
bers. They  stopped  her  and  took  all  her  rich  jewels 
from  her  fingers,  and,  holding  a  drawn  sword  over  her 
head,  swore  they  would  kill  her  if  she  dared  to  stir. 

The  poor  queen  fell  on  her  knees  and  cried,  and 
begged  them  to  have  pity  on  her  and  spare  the  young 
prince,  her  only  son.  Now  while  the  queen  was  on  her 
knees,  the  robbers  began  to  quarrel  among  themselves 
as  to  how  they  would  share  their  plunder ;  and  drawing 
their  swords,  they  fought  one  against  another.  When 
the  queen  saw  what  was  going  on,  she  leaped  to  her 
feet,  and,  taking  the  young  prince  by  the  hand,  made 
off  with  him  as  fast  as  she  could. 

There  was  a  thick  wood  close  at  hand,  and  Queen 
Margaret  plunged  into  it.  But  she  was  sorely  afraid 
all  the  while,  and  trembled  from  head  to  foot ;  for  she 
knew  this  wood  was  a  hiding-place  for  all  robbers  and 
outlaws  in  that  wild  and  lonely  region.  Every  tree  she 
saw  she  fancied  was  a  man  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his 
hand,  making  ready  to  kill  her. 

But  she  went  on  and  on  through  the  dark  forest,  this 
way  and  that,  not  knowing  where  was  she  going,  till  she 
saw  by  the  light  of  the  rising  moon  a  tall,  fierce  man 


QUEEN    MARGARET    AND    THE    ROBBER. 


I03 


step  out  from  behind  a  tree,  and  come  walking  up  to 
her.  She  knew  by  his  dress  that  he  was  a  robber  ;  but 
thinking  he  might  have  children  of  his  own,  she  made 


QUEEN  MARGARET  SEEKS  PROTECTION  FOR  HERSELF 
AND  THE  PRINCE  FROM  THE  ROBBER. 

up  her  mind  to  throw  herself  upon  his  mercy.     When 
he  came  near  she  spoke  to  him. 

"  Friend,"  she  said,  "for  Heaven's  sake,  have  pity  upon 
me.  I  am  the  queen.  Kill  me  if  thou  wilt,  but  spare 
my  son.  He  is  the  son  of  the  king.  Take  him,  I  will 


IO4       .  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

trust  him  to  thee.  Keep  him  safe  from  those  who  seek 
his  life,  and  God  will  have  pity  on  thee  for  all  thy  sins." 

The  tears  of  the  queen  moved  the  heart  of  the  fierce 
robber.  He  took  up  the  prince  in  his  arms,  and,  bid- 
ding the  queen  follow  him,  led  them  to  a  cave  in  the 
rocks,  where  he  gave  them  food  to  eat  and  kept  them 
safe  for  two  days,  when  their  friends  came  up  and  took 
care  of  them.  If  ever  you  go  to  Hexham  Forest,  you 
may  see  this  robber's  cave.  It  is  on  the  bank  of  a  little 
stream  that  flows  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  and  to  this  day 
the  people  call  it  "  Queen  Margaret's  Cave." 

But  all  the  queen's  efforts  could  not  save  her  son. 
After  many  changes  of  fortune,  he  was  taken  prisoner. 

"  How  dared  you,"  said  King  Edward,  when  the 
unhappy  prince  was  brought  to  his  tent,  "  how  dared 
you  take  up  arms  against  your  king  ? " 

"I  fought  for  my  father,"  the  brave  prince  replied, 
"  whose  crown  I  shall  one  day  wear." 

"  That  day  shall  never  come,"  cried  King  Edward ; 
and,  as  if  in  answer  to  his  angry  glance,  his  attend- 
ants fell  upon  the  prince,  and  Queen  Margaret  was  left 
childless. 


23.     THE   PRINCES   IN  THE   TOWER. 

In  the  Year  1483. 

THE  Tower  of  London,  a  square,  gloomy  castle  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  Thames,  has  heard  the 
sighs  and  moans  of  many  a  weary  prisoner,  has  seen 
many  princes  and  great  men  led  forth  to  die,  and  has 
beheld  many  a  dark  deed  of  blood.  But  it  never  saw 
a  deed  more  dark  and  cruel  than  the  murder  of  two 
little  innocent  boys,  whose  only  crime  was  that  they 
were  the  heirs  to  the  English  throne. 

These  two  boys  were  the  sons  of  King  Edward  the 
Fourth,  and  they  had  been  left  to  the  care  of  their 
uncle,  Richard,  duke  of  Gloucester.  Richard  was  a 
pale,  haggard  man,  with  dark,  flashing,  keen  eyes, 
a  sharp,  thin  face,  and  bent  shoulders.  He  was  known 
by  the  nickname  of  Richard  Crookback. 

Now  Richard  was  as  cunning  as  he  was  wicked, 
and  by  and  by  he  made  the  people  believe  that  the 
older  of  the  young  princes  was  not  fit  to  be  king,  and 
got  them  to  make  him  king  in  his  place.  After  he  was 
made  king  he  was  more  cruel  than  ever.  He  never 
went  to  see  the  princes,  nor  let  them  stir  out  of  the 
Tower ;  but  shut  them  up  in  the  little  room,  and  had 
a  cruel  man  called  Black  Will  to  wait  on  them  and  see 
that  they  did  not  run  away. 


IO6  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

The  poor  little  princes  were  very  unhappy,  shut  up 
in  this  lonely  chamber;  and  instead  of  laughing  and 
playing  like  other  boys,  they  used  to  sit  still  and  cry. 
One  day  the  young  king  —  for  he  was  a  king,  you 
know,  though  he  never  wore  a  crown  —  sighed  and 
said  to  his  brother,  "  I  would  not  care  if  my  uncle  took 
my  crown,  if  he  would  only  give  me  my  life." 

But  Richard  wanted  to  get  rid  of  the  princes,  for  his 
crown  was  not  safe  as  long  as  they  lived.  Yet  he  knew 
the  governor  of  the  Tower  was  a  good  man,  and  would 
not  hurt  the  princes  for  any  one.  So  one  night  he  sent 
a  bad  man  named  Sir  James  Tyrrel  to  the  Tower,  with 
orders  to  the  governor  to  give  up  the  keys  to  him. 

Two  fierce,  rough  men  went  with  him.  One  was 
Tyrrel's  own  groom,  a  big  burly  fellow ;  the  other  was 
a  villain  who  had  made  murder  his  trade. 

As  soon  as  Tyrrel  had  got  the  keys  of  the  Tower 
and  had  sent  the  governor  away,  he  told  the  two  men 
to  go  to  the  little  room  where  the  princes  slept,  while 
he  waited  outside  and  kept  watch. 

Slowly  and  softly  they  stole  up  the  stone  stairs  — 
a  dark  lantern  in  their  hands — and  came  into  the  room 
where  the  princes  lay  asleep.  They  were  in  the  same 
bed.  Their  little  arms  were  round  each  other's  necks, 
and  their  soft,  sweet  faces  were  touching  each  other. 

For  a  moment  the  heart  of  one  of  the  villains  was 
moved,  and  he  said  he  could  not  kill  them,  they  looked 
so  sweet  and  innocent.  But  the  other  man  put  him  in 


THE     PRINCES    IN   THE  TOWER. 
From  a  photograph  of  a  painting  by  Millais. 


IO8  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

mind  of  all  the  money  they  were  to  have,  and  then  they 
took  the  bed  clothes  and  covered  the  faces  of  the  chil- 
dren, and  pressed  the  pillows  on  the  top  and  kept  them 
down  tight  till  the  poor  little  princes  were  quite  dead. 

When  all  was  over  the  men  brought  Tyrrel  up  to  see 
the  bodies,  so  that  he  might  be  able  to  tell  the  king 
that  the  deed  had  been  done.  By  the  light  of  the 
lantern,  they  dug  a  deep  hole  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs, 
and  put  the  bodies  of  the  princes  into  it.  Then  they 
covered  them  over  with  rubbish,  put  down  the  stones 
again,  and  went  their  way. 

Two  hundred  years  after  this  cruel  deed,  some  work- 
men, digging  under  the  stone  stairs  in  the  Tower,  found 
the  bones  of  the  two  little  princes.  Charles  the  Second, 
who  was  then  the  king,  had  them  taken  up  and  put  in  a 
casket ;  and  buried  them  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


24.     THE   FIRST   ENGLISH   PRINTER. 

William  Caxton,   born   1412  ;     died   1491. 

AFTER  all  the  stories  we  have  read  of  war  and 
battle,  of  blood  and  murder,  of  hatred  and  quarrel, 
it  will  be  pleasant  for  us  to  read  of  something  that  is 
good  and  peaceable  —  of  something  that  is  useful  to 
our  fellow-men.  Such  is  the  story  of  how  the  printing 
press  came  to  be  set  up  in  England. 

Before  the  year  1477,  books  were  so  dear  that  even 
kings  and  wealthy  nobles  could  have  only  a  very  few 
books  in  their  homes.  There  is  a  story  told  of  Louis 
the  Eleventh  of  France,  that  when  he  once  wished  to 
borrow  a  book  from  a  rich  man,  he  and  one  of  his 
nobles  had  to  sign  a  paper,  in  which  they  both  solemnly 
and  faithfully  promised  to  let  the  owner  have  his  book 
back  again  ;  and  besides  this,  he  had  to  give  the  owner 
a  large  quantity  of  costly  silver  plate  to  keep  until  the 
book  was  returned. 

Before  the  art  of  printing  was  invented  all  books 
were  written  by  hand  —  slowly  and  with  much  labor. 
They  were  often  full  of  costly  little  pictures,  also  made 
by  hand,  richly  bound  in  velvet,  and  fastened  with  gold 
or  silver  clasps,  in  which  precious  stones  were  sometimes 
set.  It  was  at  that  time  of  no  use  for  a  poor  man  to  learn 
to  read,  for  he  had  no  chance  of  ever  getting  any  books. 


IIO  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Now  let  me  tell  you  that  printing  was  invented  in 
Germany,  and  the  art  was  brought  to  England  by 
William  Caxton,  a  London  merchant,  who  was  born 
in  1412,  a  short  time  before  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
Fifth,  the  soldier  king.  He  lived  all  through  the 
troubled  times  of  the  War  of  the  Roses,  and  during 
the  reign  of  six  English  kings. 

William  Caxton  went  abroad  and  lived  for  some  time 
in  Bruges,  a  famous  old  town  in  Flanders.  He  was  for 
some  time  in  the  service  of  the  duchess  of  Burgundy, 
a  lady  who  was  the  sister  of  the  English  king,  Edward 
the  Fourth.  There  was  at  that  time  in  Bruges  a 
famous  man  who  had  learned  the  art  of  printing  from 
the  Germans  ;  and  it  was  from  him  that  Caxton  acquired 
this  new  and  wonderful  art  of  making  books. 

The  first  book  that  Caxton  printed  was  called  the 
"  Tales  of  Troy."  When  he  had  brought  out  this  book, 
he  returned  to  England,  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
thirty-five  years. 

Caxton  set  up  his  printing  press  at  Westminster, 
within  the  limits  of  the  Abbey,  "  at  the  sign  of  the  Red 
Pole."  He  advertised  his  wares  as  "  good  chepe,"  that 
is,  very  cheap. 

Caxton  was  at  this  time  an  old  man  probably  over 
sixty,  years  of  age  ;  but  for  fifteen  years  he  worked  with 
intense  energy,  not  only  in  printing  books,  but  in  trans- 
lating others  into  English  before  he  printed  them.  This 
new  art  seemed  so  wonderful  at  first  to  the  people  that 


THE    FIRST    ENGLISH    PRINTER.  I  I  I 

they  thought  the  workmen  who  were  engaged  in  it 
must  have  been  helped  by  the  Evil  One. 

The  first  book  printed  in  England  was  the  "  Game 
and  Play  of  the  Chess,"  printed  in  1477.  Caxton,  hav- 
ing once  begun,  was  never  idle.  He  printed  the  poems 
of  Chaucer,""  the  Morning  Star  of  English  poetry,"  and 
book  after  book  on  various  subjects  was  sent  out  from 
his  press. 

Sixty-four  books  in  all  went  out  from  the  sign  of  the 
Red  Pole — all  of  them  printed  with  the  odd,  old  types 
now  known  as  Black  Letter.  Caxton  was  much 
encouraged  in  his  efforts  by  many  English  noblemen, 
and  Edward  the  Fourth,  Richard  the  Third,  and  Henry 
the  Seventh  all  took  an  interest  in  his  work. 

One  of  Caxton's  greatest  difficulties  was  the  changes 
that  were  then  taking  place  in  the  English  language. 
Thus  he  says,  "  Our  language  now  used  varieth  far 
from  that  which  was  used  and  spoken  when  I  was 
born." 

Once,  when  discouraged  at  the  length  of  a  piece  of 
work  he  had  undertaken,  a  rich  nobleman  persuaded 
him  to  go  on,  and  promised  him  a  fee  of  a  stag 
in  summer  and  a  deer  in  winter.  Amidst  general 
encouragement  and  interest,  the  old  man  worked  on 
and  was  full  of  plans  when  death  took  him  away,  leav- 
ing behind  him  a  name  which  will  always  be  famous 
while  the  English  language  exists. 


25.     THE   STORY  OF  THE    "INVINCIBLE   ARMADA." 

The   "Armada"  was   defeated   in   the   Year   1588. 

QUEEN  MARY,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Henry  the 
Eighth,  was  the  first  woman  to  rule  over  Eng- 
land. Her  marriage  in  1554  to  Philip,  the  heir  of  the 
vast  Spanish  empire,  had  excited  great  alarm  and  indig- 
nation throughout  England.  For  you  must  know  that 
at  this  time  a  most  bitter  feeling  existed  between  the 
Spanish  and  the  English  people. 

When  Philip  came  to  England  to  meet  his  bride,  his 
proud  and  haughty  ways  made  him  hated  still  more. 
Fortunately  for  England,  Queen  Mary  died  after  a  brief 
reign  of  a  little  over  five  years.  Her  sister  Elizabeth, 
the  good  Queen  Bess,  succeeded  to  the  throne. 

Great  was  the  joy  in  England  when  she  began  to 
reign.  The  bells  in  all  the  churches  were  set  ringing, 
tables  were  spread  in  the  streets,  "  where  was  plentiful 
eating,  drinking,  and  making  merry."  At  night  bon- 
fires were  lighted  in  the  streets,  and  every  one  seemed 
glad  that  the  stern  and  gloomy  Mary  was  gone.  All 
felt  that  there  would  be  a  change  for  the  better  in  the 
condition  of  the  country. 

Queen  Elizabeth  showed  great  wisdom  in  her  choice 
of  persons  to  aid  her  with  their  counsel.  Much  of  the 
success  of  her  glorious  reign  is  due  to  the  wisdom  of 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    "INVINCIBLE    ARMADA.  113 

her  able  advisers.  Now  this  same  Philip  of  Spain  who 
had  married  Queen  Mary  and  had  tried  to  become  king 
of  England,  was  the  richest  and  most  powerful  ruler 
in  the  world.  Thirty  years  after  his  wife's  death,  and 
when  Elizabeth  was  reigning  in  England,  he  resolved 
to  build  the  largest  fleet  of  the  largest  ships  the  world 
had  ever  seen,  and  with  it  to  subdue  England  and  make 
it  a  part  of  his  vast  empire.  He  fitted  out  a  fleet  of 
one  hundred  and  thirty  large  ships,  manned  by  eight 
thousand  sailors  and  galley  slaves,  and  carrying  twenty 
thousand  troops. 

The  "  Invincible  Armada,"  as  Philip  called  it,  that  is 
to  say,  the  fleet  that  could  never  be  beaten,  left  Lisbon 
on  the  2Qth  of  May,  1588.  It  was  directed  to  sail  to 
Calais,  to  be  joined  there  by  troops  from  the  Nether- 
lands. 

England  was  not  idle  in  making  ready  to  resist  the 
Spaniards.  All  the  men  between  sixteen  and  sixty  were 
trained  and  drilled.  The  royal  navy  at  this  time  con- 
sisted of  only  thirty-six  sail ;  but  the  towns  of  England 
and  many  private  gentlemen  eagerly  fitted  out  ves- 
sels at  their  own  expense,  and  bought  great  numbers 
of  cannon  and  large  quantities  of  gunpowder. 

Very  soon  a  fleet  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-one 
ships,  small,  but  swift  and  active,  and  filled  with  daring 
sailors,  was  afloat  upon  the  waters  of  the  EnglisTi  Chan- 
nel. Most  of  them  were  little  larger  than  a  yacht,  while 
the  Spanish  vessels  were  like  huge  floating  castles. 


114  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

But  the  English  ships  could  sail  twice  as  fast  as  the 
Spanish  and  fire  three  shots  to  the  Spaniards'  one. 

So  with  all  England  roused  like  one  strong,  angry 
man,  with  both  sides  of  the  Thames  fortified,  and  with 
the  soldiers  under  arms  and  the  sailors  in  their  ships, 
the  country  waited  for  the  coming  of  the  proud  Spanish 
fleet.  The  queen  herself,  riding  on  a  white  horse,  with 
armor  on  her  back,  and  the  Earl  of  Essex  and  the  Earl 
of  Leicester  holding  her  bridle  rein,  made  a  stirring 
speech  to  the  troops  at  Tilbury,  opposite  Gravesend. 
She  was  received  with  much  enthusiasm. 

"  I  come  among  you,"  said  the  queen,  "  to  live  or 
die  with  you,  to  lay  down  my  crown  even  in  the  dust, 
for  my  God  and  my  people.  I  know  I  have  but  the 
body  of  a  weak  and  feeble  woman,  but  I  have  the  heart 
of  a  king,  and  of  a  king  of  England." 

She  ordered  bonfires  to  be  made  on  every  hilltop  and 
kindled  when  the  "  Armada "  came  in  sight,  so  as  to 
flash  the  news  over  the  whole  country. 

The  evening  shadows  of  the  summer  sun  on  the  igth 
of  July,  1588,  were  slowly  lengthening  over  the  bowling 
green  of  the  Pelican  Inn  in  Plymouth,  where  a  noisy 
party  of  jolly  sea  captains  might  have  been  seen  at 
play.  There  were  Lord  Howard, — the  Lord  High  Ad- 
miral of  England, —  Drake,  Hawkins,  and  other  great 
sailors. 

In  the  midst  of  their  game  there  burst  in  an  old 
sailor,  shouting : 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    "INVINCIBLE    ARMADA." 


"  My  lord  !  my  lord  !  the  Spaniards  are  coming ;  I 
saw  them  off  the  Lizard  last  night !  They  're  coming 
full  sail  —  hundreds  of  them  darkening  the  water  !  " 

"  Then  we  must  go  at  once,"  said  Lord  Howard, 
throwing  down  his  bowl. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,  my  lord ! "  replied  Drake,  who  was 
vice-admiral  of   the   fleet,  "there's 
plenty  of  time  to  finish  the  game 
and  thrash  the  Spaniards  too  ! " 

Slowly,  but  proud- 
ly, came  the  great 
"  Armada "  up  the 
Channel,  the  tall  sea- 
castles  sailing  in  a 
crescent  which  meas- 
ured seven  miles  from 
tip  to  tip.  Drake's 
plan  was  not  to  meet 
them,  but  to  hang  .jj 
about  their  rear  and  "•- 
pick  off  their  ships 
one  by  one.  "  The 
following  game  is  our 
game,"  he  gleefully 
whisoered  to  Haw-  QUEEN  ELIZABETH  REVIEWING  HER  TROOPS 

*j  AT   TILBURY. 

kins,  "  not  the  meet- 
ing  one.      The   dog    goes    after   the   sheep    and    not 
before   them,  my   lad.      Let   them   go    by,    and  we  '11 


Il6  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

stick  to  them  and  pick  up  the  stragglers."  And  the 
weather-beaten  old  sea-dog  chuckled  heartily  to  himself. 

For  a  whole  week  the  Spanish  ships  sailed  up  the 
Channel,  and  at  last  cast  anchor  off  Calais.  The 
English  admiral,  wishing  to  scatter  them,  took  six  of 
the  oldest  vessels  in  his  fleet,  rilled  them  with  pitch, 
old  ropes,  tar  barrels,  sulphur,  resin,  and  other  things 
that  would  make  a  good  blaze,  set  fire  to  them,  and 
in  the  dead  of  night  sent  them  down  before  the  wind 
right  into  the  heart  of  the  Spanish  fleet. 

A  panic  seized  the  Spanish  sailors.  Some  weighed 
anchor ;  some  cut  their  cables,  hoisted  any  sail  that 
came  to  hand,  ran  up  against  their  neighbors  and  had 
their  rigging  entangled  ;  while  others  got  away  as  best 
they  could. 

The  next  day  three  or  four  English  ships  closed 
round  the  great  unwieldy,  floating  castles,  and  fired 
into  them  until  they  sank  beneath  the  waves.  Those 
that  could  get  free  were  glad  to  sail  away  to  the  north, 
for  the  wind  was  blowing  right  up  the  Channel,  and  it 
was  impossible  for  them  to  return  home  that  way. 

A  terrible  storm  now  made  sad  havoc  with  the  Span- 
ish fleet.  Scores  of  vessels  were  wrecked  on  the  coast 
of  France,  the  Low  Countries,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
and  the  dead  bodies  of  the  poor  sailors  strewed  many  a 
shore.  Of  all  this  large  fleet  only  fifty-three  shattered 
vessels  returned  to  Spain  to  tell  their  tale  of  disaster 
and  defeat. 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    "  INVINCIBLE    ARMADA.  I  I  7 

Such  was  the  fate  of  the  "  Invincible  Armada."  Thus 
ended  this  great  attempt  to  invade  and  conquer  England. 
The  sun  of  Spanish  greatness  had  set ;  her  rule  over 
the  seas  was  broken. 

When  the  news  of  the  defeat  of  the  "Armada  "  spread 
throughout  Europe,  all  men  felt  a  great  respect  for  the 
brave  English  people  and  their  heroic  queen.  The 
English  themselves  were  more  proud  than  ever  of  their 
good  Queen  Bess,  who  had  trusted  them  and  had  spoken 
out  so  bravely  in  the  hour  of  danger. 

England  was  now  safe  from  foreign  invasion  ;  and 
English  ships  sailed  over  every  sea,  increasing  the  com- 
merce of  the  realm,  and  making  the  English  name 
known  and  feared  as  it  had  never  been  known  and 
feared  before. 


26.     TWO  FAMOUS   MEN  WHO   LIVED  IN  THE   DAYS  OF 
QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

Queen  Elizabeth  reigned  from  1558  to  1603. 

IN  the  days  of  the  good  Queen  Elizabeth  there  were 
many  brave  and  many  wise  men,  whom  you  will 
read  about  when  you  are  older.  One  of  the  bravest, 
wisest,  and  best  of  them  all  was  Sir  Philip  Sidney.  He 
was  a  daring  soldier,  as  well  as  a  scholar  and  a  poet. 
He  was  born  in  a  pretty  old  manor  house  in  Kent.  If 
you  should  ever  go  there,  you  would  see  "  Sir  Philip 
Sidney's  oak,"  which  he  planted  with  his  own  hand. 

Young  Sidney  was  very  wise,  very  polished  in  his 
manners,  and  very  generous.  Even  as  a  child  he  was 
grave  and  thoughtful ;  and  while  his  teachers  found 
him  a  quick  scholar,  they  were  able  to  learn  something 
from  him.  When  he  grew  up  to  be  a  young  man  he 
chose  as  his  friends,  not  young  men  like  himself,  but 
men  who  were  old  enough  to  have  been  his  father. 
These  men  —  some  of  them  great  statesmen  —  thought 
Sidney  wise  beyond  his  years,  and  often  took  his  advice 
on  very  weighty  matters. 

Sir  Philip  was  tall  and  fair  and  handsome,  and  had 
such  sweet  and  winning  ways  that  no  one  could  help 
loving  him.  Queen  Elizabeth  was  very  fond  of  him. 
She  called  him  her  Philip,  and  would  scarcely  ever  let 


TWO    FAMOUS    MEN    IN    THE    DAYS    OF    ELIZABETH.      IIQ 

him  out  of  her  sight.  People  in  far-off  lands  had  heard 
how  good  and  wise  Sir  Philip  was.  The  men  of  Poland 
at  one  time  asked  him  to  be  their  king ;  but  the  queen 


c 


SIDNEY   AND   THE   WOUNDED    SOLDIER. 


said  she  could  not  spare  him,  for  he  was  "  the  fairest 
jewel  in  her  crown." 

But  when  war  broke  out  in  Holland,  Sir  Philip  was 
sent  over  to  fight  against  the  enemies  of  England.  In 
his  last  battle  —  near  the  town  of  Zutphen — he  had 
two  horses  shot  under  him.  Then  he  mounted  a  third 


120  .     STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

horse,  and  led  on  his  men  to  the  charge.  But  before 
the  battle  was  over,  a  bullet  struck  him  and  broke  his 
thigh.  Then  two  of  his  own  soldiers  carried  Sir  Philip 
on  a  litter  slowly  to  the  rear. 

It  was  plain  to  see  that  the  brave  young  soldier  was 
dying.  His  face  was  deadly  pale,  his  leg  was  bleeding 
fast,  and  he  was  dizzy  and  faint  from  loss  of  blood. 
His  tongue  was  so  parched  with  thirst  that  he  begged 
for  a  drink  of  water.  A  bowl  of  water  was  brought  to 
him.  He  lifted  it  to  his  mouth  and  was  just  going  to 
drink,  when  a  poor  soldier,  who  was  also  badly  hurt, 
was  carried  past.  The  soldier  saw  the  water,  and 
looked  at  it  with  longing  eyes. 

At  that  very  instant  Sir  Philip  took  the  water  from 
his  own  lips  without  even  tasting  it,  and  gave  it  to  the 
common  soldier  to  drink  ;  saying,  as  he  did  so,  "  Poor 
fellow,  he  needs  it  more  than  I  do."  When  Sir  Philip 
died,  as  he  did  soon  after,  all  England  mourned  for 
him ;  and  his  body  was  brought  across  the  sea  and 
buried  in  St.  Paul's. 

This  touching  action  of  a  noble  heart  is  perhaps  as 
well  known  as  any  incident  in  history.  It  is  as  famous 
far  and  wide  as  the  tale  of  the  blood-stained  Tower  of 
London  with  its  axe  and  block  and  cruel  murders. 
So  delightful  is  an  act  of  true  humanity,  and  so  glad 
is  mankind  to  remember  it. 


TWO    FAMOUS    MEN    IN    THE    DAYS    OF    ELIZABETH.      121 

Now  let  me  tell  you  of  another  famous  man  who 
lived  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  One  day,  as  the 
queen  was  walking  down  to  the  river  to  go  on  board 
the  royal  barge,  a  crowd  stood  waiting  to  see  her  pass. 
Among  them  was  a  gay,  handsome  young  man,  who 
wore'  a  bright  velvet  cloak.  He  had  pushed  his  way  to 
the  front  and  was  gazing  at  the  queen  when  he  saw  her 
stop  before  a  little  pool  of  muddy  water,  for  she  was 
afraid  to  wet  her  feet. 

In  an  instant  he  stepped  out  from  the  crowd,  took  off 
his  cloak,  and  spread  it  on  the  muddy  ground  ;  and  the 
queen,  blushing  and  smiling,  walked  over  it  and  passed 
on.  It  was  an  affair  of  a  moment,  and  the  crowd  scat- 
tered as  quickly  as  it  had  gathered.  Walter  Raleigh, 
for  this  was  the  young  man's  name,  still  stood  near  the 
riverside  with  the  cloak  on  his  arm,  when  a  messenger 
from  the  queen  called  him  to  the  royal  barge. 

Good  Queen  Bess,  as  she  is  often  called,  was  seated 
beneath  an  awning  in  the  center  of  a  group  of  lords  and 
ladies. 

"  What  is  your  name  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  May  it  please  your  Majesty,"  the  young  man 
answered,  "  my  name  is  Raleigh,  and  my  father  is  of  an 
old  but  unfortunate  family." 

"  You  have  to-day,"  the  queen  said,  "  spoilt  a  good 
cloak  in  our  service.  Take  this  jewel,"  she  added, 
handing  him  a  ring  in  which  a  diamond  shone,  "  and 
wear  it  henceforth  in  memory  of  this  day." 


RALEIGH    SPREADS    HIS    CLOAK    FOR   THE    QUEEN   TO    WALK    UPON. 


TWO    FAMOUS    MEN    IN    THE    DAYS    OF    ELIZABETH.      123 

Raleigh  was  not  only  gay  and  handsome,  but  he  was 
brave  and  clever  as  well.  He  could  do  almost  any- 
thing. He  was  a  soldier,  sailor,  poet,  —  all  in  one.  .He 
beat  the  Spaniards  in  many  a  brave  fight,  both  on  land 
and  on  sea ;  and  he  made  poems  and  wrote  books  that 
you  may  read  when  you  are  older.  But  he  loved  above 
all  things  to  sail  to  far-off  countries  and  find  out  new 
and  strange  lands. 

Once  when  he  sailed  to  America  he  brought  back 
some  potatoes  and  also  tobacco.  It  was  the  first  time 
they  had  ever  been  seen  in  England.  Sir  Walter 
planted  his  potatoes  on  his  own  land  in  Ireland  ;  and 
they  grew  so  well  there  that  the  people  of  that 
country  have  ever  since  used  potatoes  as  their  chief 
food. 

He  used  to  smoke  his  tobacco  in  a  silver  pipe.  One 
day  he  was  having  a  quiet  smoke,  when  a  servant  came 
into  his  room  with  a  pitcher  of  water.  The  servant  had 
never  seen  a  man  smoking  before ;  and  when  he  saw 
the  smoke  coming  out  of  his  master's  mouth,  he  threw 
the  full  pitcher  of  water  into  Sir  Walter's  face,  and  ran 
away  as  fast  as  he  could,  crying  out  that  his  master  was 
on  fire ! 

After  the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  King  James  the 
First  sent  Raleigh  to  the  Tower  on  a  charge  of  treason. 
Thirteen  years  slowly  passed  before  the  chance  of  free- 
dom came.  James  was  fond  of  money.  Raleigh  had 
never  lost  his  love  of  liberty.  If  the  king  would  give 


124  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

him  freedom  and  fit  out  a  fleet,  he  said  he  would  return 
with  gold  from  the  shores  of  South  America. 

The  expedition  was  a  failure.  The  English  were 
beaten  by  the  Spaniards,  and  Sir  Walter's  favorite  son 
was  killed.  "  My  brains,"  he  wrote,  "  are  broken."  He 
might  have  added  that  his  heart  was  also  broken. 

His  friends  urged  him  never  to  come  home  again. 
Two  noblemen,  however,  had  offered  their  lives  as 
surety  for  him  when  he  left  England,  and  he  would 
not  buy  his  life  at  the  price  of  theirs,  was  the  answer 
he  sent  back.  So  he  came  back  to  London  and  to  the 
Tower,  and  ended  his  days  on  the  scaffold. 

It  would  make  our  little  book  too  long  if  I  tried  to 
tell  you  of  all  the  wise  and  good  things  done  by  Queen 
Elizabeth,  or  if  I  told  you  the  names  of  half  the  famous 
men  who  lived  in  her  time.  Of  all  the  celebrated  men 
of  this  glorious  reign,  none  are  to  be  compared  to 
Shakespeare,  whose  plays  are  so  widely  read  and 
quoted,  nor  even  to  Spenser,  who  lived  and  died  in 
the  time  of  this  great  queen. 


27.     DEATH    OF    CHARLES    THE    FIRST. 

King  Charles  the  First  was  executed  in  the  Year  1649. 

HPHERE  was  once  a  king  of  England  called  Charles 
1  the  First,  who  wanted  to  have  his  own  way  —  right 
or  wrong  —  in  all  things.  He  thought  that  because  he 
was  king  he  could  break  the  laws  when  he  liked  and 
rule  the  land  as  he  pleased. 

It  was  a  great  pity.  For  Charles  was  a  good  man 
in  some  ways  ;  and  if  he  had  been  just  and  kind  to  his 
people,  they  would  have  loved  him.  But  he  made 
them  pay  taxes  that  were  quite  unjust,  and  tried  to 
do  away  with  the  Parliament  and  rule  the  land  himself. 
This  was  wrong.  It  was  going  against  the  rights  of 
the  people  and  against  the  laws  of  the  land.  So 
Parliament  tried  to  stop  him. 

But  it  was  no  use,  the  king  would  have  his  way ;  and 
at  last  a  great  civil  war  broke  out  between  the  king  and 
the  Parliament.  For  the  most  part,  the  nobles  and  the 
clergymen  were  on  the  king's  side.  The  friends  of  the 
king  were  called  Cavaliers.  They  wore  their  hair  long 
and  had  fine,  gay  clothes,  and  were  merry,  laughing, 
and  jolly  when  things  went  well  with  them. 

The  friends  of  the  Parliament  wore  short  hair,  and 
were  therefore  called  Roundheads.  They  were  mostly 
grave,  earnest  men,  and  very  sober  in  their  dress. 


126  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

The  war  lasted  for  three  years.  Then  Oliver  Crom- 
well—  a  stern,  rough  man,  but  the  best  general  on  the 
Parliament  side  —  defeated  the  king  and  broke  up  his 
army  in  a  great  battle  at  Naseby. 

From  that  day  the  poor  king  was  an  outcast,  and  was 
hunted  from  place  to  place  by  Cromwell's  soldiers. 
Many  a  day  he  had  not  a  morsel  to  eat ;  and  many  a 
night,  hungry  and  footsore,  he  lay  down  to  sleep  in  the 
lonely  woods.  At  last  he  gave  himself  up. 

But  Parliament  could  not  agree  what  to  do  with  him. 
Most  of  the  members  pitied  him  and  wanted  to  make 
friends  with  him.  But  the  chief  men  of  the  army,  who 
had  now  all  the  power,  had  made  up  their  minds  that 
the  king  should  die. 

So  Cromwell  gave  orders  for  Charles  to  be  brought 
to  trial  for  having  made  war  against  his  people. 

But  neither  the  lords  nor  the  judges  of  the  land 
would  try  the  king.  Then  Cromwell  and  his  friends 
set  themselves  up  as  judges,  and  sent  word  to  Charles 
to  appear  before  them  in  Westminster  Hall. 

The  king  was  led  to  trial  by  brutal  soldiers,  who 
mocked  him  and  pointed  their  pistols  at  him  as  they 
walked  by  his  side. 

The  people  on  the  streets  had  pity  on  him,  and  many 
in  the  crowd  cried  out  to  him  as  he  passed,  "  God  save 
your  Majesty,"  "  God  keep  you  from  your  enemies."  But, 
alas,  they  could  not  help  the  unfortunate  king  in  the 
day  of  his  downfall  and  misery ! 


DEATH    OF    CHARLES    THE    FIRST. 


127 


The  trial  lasted  seven  days.  Then  sentence  of  death 
was  passed  on  the  king,  and  the  soldiers  led  him  to 
Whitehall.  That  night,  while  he  lay  awake  in  bed,  he 
heard  the  hammers  of  the  workmen 
as  they  drove  the  nails  into  the  scaf- 
fold on  which  he  was  to  die. 

He  had  only  three  days 
to  prepare  for  death 
and  to  take  leave  of  his 
children.  In  those  three 
days  he  could  not  find 
time  to  see  his  friends. 
"  I  hope,"  he  said,  "  those 
who  love  me  will  not 
take  it  ill  that  they  can- 
not come  to  me.  The 
best  thing  they  can 
do  now  is  to  pray  for  r 
me." 

On  the  next  day 
two  of  the  unhappy 
king's  children  came 
to  see  their  father  for 
the  last  time.  They 
cried  and  cried  till  their  eyes  were  so  swollen  that  they 
could  hardly  see.  The  king  did  all  he  could  to  comfort 
them,  and  told  them  that  he  forgave  his  enemies  and 
hoped  that  God,  too,  would  forgive  them.  Bidding 


KING     CHARLES    TAKING     LEAVE    OF    HIS 
CHILDREN. 


128  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

good-bye  to  his  little  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  was  only 
twelve  years  of  age,  he  said,  "  Sweetheart,  you  will 
forget  this." 

"  No,"  she  replied,  "  I  will  never  forget  it  as  long 
as  I  live  !  "  The  poor  child  died  soon  after  her  father. 

Taking  his  little  son  Henry,  a  child  of  eight,  on  his 
knee,  he  said  to  him  :  "  My  boy,  they  will  cut  off  thy 
father's  head,  and  will,  perhaps,  make  thee  a  king. 
But  mark  what  I  say :  thou  must  not  let  them  make 
thee  king  as  long  as  thy  brothers  Charles  and  James 
live."  The  little  fellow  looked  up  through  his  tears  and 
said,  "  No,  father,  I  will  be  torn  in  pieces  first." 

When  morning  broke  —  the  morning  of  the  day  on 
which  the  king  had  to  die  —  snow  lay  on  the  ground 
and  on  all  the  housetops.  The  king,  on  seeing  it,  put 
on  extra  clothing.  "  If  I  shake  with  cold,"  he  thought, 
"  my  enemies  will  say  I  tremble  for  fear."  When  food 
was  placed  before  him  he  would  not  touch  it. 

But  Bishop  Juxon,  who  had  been  praying  with  him, 
said,  "  You  have  had  a  long  fast ;  the  weather  is  cold, 
and  you  may  faint." 

"  You  are  right,"  replied  the  king ;  and  he  took  a 
bit  of  bread  and  a  glass  of  wine.  "  Now,"  said  he,  in  a 
cheerful  voice,  "  I  am  ready  ;  let  my  enemies  come  !" 

As  the  clock  tolled  one,  the  king  was  led  through  an 
open  window  on  to  the  black  scaffold,  which  faced  the 
street.  With  a  clear  eye  and  a  calm,  proud  look  on  his 
worn  but  handsome  face,  the  king  looked  around  him. 


DEATH    OF    CHARLES    THE    FIRST.  1 29 

He  saw  nothing  but  soldiers   and  pikes   and   flashing 
swords.     The  people  were  afar  off  and  out  of  all  hear- 
ing- 
Walking  up  to  the  headsman,  he  pointed  to  the  block. 
"  Place  it,"  he  said,  "  so  that  it  may  not  shake." 
"  It  is  quite  firm,"  said  the  man. 

"  I  shall  say  a  short  prayer,"  said  the  king  ;  "  and  when 
I  thrust  my  hand  out  thus  —  strike!"  The  king  said 
a  prayer  to  himself,  raised  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and, 
kneeling  down,  laid  his  head  on  the  block.  A  minute 
passed  —  Charles  put  out  his  hand  —  the  axe  fell  —  and 
the  king  was  dead. 

A  groan  of  pain  and  horror  rose  from  the  vast  crowd  ; 
and  the  soldiers,  who  had  sat  on  their  horses  and  stood 
in  their  ranks  immovable  as  statues,  were  of  a  sudden 
all  in  motion,  clearing  the  streets. 


28.     HOW  KING  CHARLES   THE   SECOND   ESCAPED  FROM 
HIS  ENEMIES. 

Charles  the   Second  reigned  from   1660   to   1685. 

AFTER  the  death  of  Charles  the  First,  his  eldest 
son,  afterwards  Charles  the  Second,  had  to  face 
many  dangers  before  he  came  to  the  throne.  Though 
the  English  Parliament  was  against  him,  Scotland  was 
on  his  side  ;  and  he  marched  into  England  at  the  head 
of  a  Scottish  army. 

The  great  leader  of  the  Parliamentary  forces,  Oliver 
Cromwell,  met  Charles  near  Worcester  and  beat  his 
army  "from  hedge  to  hedge,"  until  he  had  driven  it 
into  the  town.  The  Scottish  troops  were  completely 
routed,  and  Charles  himself  had  to  flee  for  his  life. 
When  the  day  was  lost,  King  Charles  put  spurs  to  his 
horse  and,  with  a  few  friends  at  his  side,  rode  all  night 
long. 

Cromwell  had  sent  word  up  and  down  the  country, 
that  he  would  give  a  thousand  pounds  to  any  man  who 
would  take  the  king  or  tell  where  he  was  ;  and  would 
cut  off  the  head  of  any  one  who  dared  to  give  him 
shelter.  So  the  king  and  his  friends  rode  softly  along 
quiet  lanes,  keeping  away  from  the  farms  and  villages. 

At  the  break  of  day  they  came  to  a  farm  where  there 
lived  a  family  of  woodcutters  by  the  name  of  Pendrell. 
The  Earl  of  Derby,  who  was  with  the  king,  knew  the 


HOW    KING    CHARLES    THE    SECOND    ESCAPED.  13! 

Pendrells  well.  There  were  five  brothers  of  them. 
They  had  once  saved  the  earl's  life  when  Cromwell's 
soldiers  were  after  him,  and  he  knew  them  to  be  true 
to  the  king.  They  were  very  poor,  but  what  of  that  ? 
They  were  brave  and  faithful,  and  cared  neither  for 
Cromwell's  threats  nor  for  his  gold.  The  earl  went  up 
to  Pendrell  and  said  to  him  :  "  Will,  here  is  the  king. 
I  can  trust  him  with  you.  Keep  him  safe  ! " 

But  Cromwell's  men  were  close  at  hand,  and  it  was 
not  safe  for  the  king  to  stay  in  the  house.  So  Will 
Pendrell  led  him  into  a  wood  that  was  quite  near  and 
told,  him  to  hide  there,  and  he  and  his  brothers  would 
keep  watch.  It  rained  from  morn  till  night,  and  the 
king  was  wet  to  the  skin.  But  the  kind-hearted  wood- 
cutters brought  him  bread  and  cheese  to  eat  and  a  thick 
blanket  to  sit  on  ;  and  the  king  sat  under  a  tree  till  it 
grew  quite  dark.  But  he  wanted  to  cross  the  river  Severn 
and  get  into  Wales,  thinking  he  would  be  safer  there. 

So  Dick  Pendrell  got  the  king  to  put  on  an  old  worn 
suit  of  his  and  a  pair  of  thick  shoes,  and  stain  his 
hands  and  face  with  walnut  juice,  to  make  him  look 
like  a  woodman.  When  Charles  was  ready,  Dick 
went  with  him  to  show  him  the  way.  But  when  they 
got  to  the  banks  of  the  Severn,  they  found  that  Crom- 
well's redcoats  had  taken  away  all  the  boats,  and  that 
soldiers  were  pacing  up  and  down  the  river  bank  to 
stop  the  king  or  any  of  his  party  from  crossing  into 
Wales. 


132  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

After  hiding  all  day  in  a  hayloft,  the  king  with  Dick 
Pendrell  started  back.  They  made  their  way  in  the 
dark  across  fields  and  over  hedges  and  ditches.  The 
king's  heavy  shoes  were  too  big  for  him,  and  got  full  of 
sand  and  water.  His  feet  were  so  sore  that  he  could 
scarcely  crawl  along.  But  at  last  they  came  back  to  the 
Pendrell  farm,  and  King  Charles  went  and  hid  again 
in  the  woods. 

When  the  king  went  back  into  the  woods  he  found 
one  of  his  own  officers,  hiding  there,  and  went  up  and 
spoke  to  him.  While  they  were  talking,  they  heard 
the  clank  of  swords  and  the  tramp  of  horses'  feet.  The 
soldiers  were  coming  into  the  woods.  What  were  they 
to  do  ?  There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose.  A  big  oak 
tree  stood  near  them,  and  they  climbed  up  into  it  and 
hid  among  the  branches. 

It  was  lucky  for  them  that  the  leaves  grew  thick,  for 
soon  some  of  Cromwell's  troops  came  riding  by.  They 
could  hear  them  say  as  they  looked  up  and  down  that 
they  were  sure  the  king  was  near,  and  it  would  be  a 
bad  job  for  him  if  they  caught  him.  But  they  did  not 
catch  him.  He  stayed  in  the  tree  all  day.  The  Pen- 
drells  gave  him  food  and  brought  him  a  cushion  to  sit 
on.  The  king  was  very  tired.  He  had  had  no  sleep  for 
two  nights.  So  he  laid  his  head  in  the  lap  of  the 
officer  and  fell  asleep. 

King  Charles  stayed  at  the  Pendrell  farm  for  two  or 
three  days  ;  but  there  were  so  many  of  his  enemies 


HOW    KING    CHARLES    THE    SECOND    ESCAPED.  133 

about  that  it  was  not  safe  for  him  to  stay  longer.  So  one 
of  the  Pendrells  went  to  Colonel  Lane,  who  lived  some 
miles  off,  to  see  what  could  be  done  to  get  the  king  away. 

Jane  Lane,  the  colonel's  daughter,  was  going  to  Bris- 
tol ;  so  it  was  agreed  that  Charles  should  go  with  her 
and  act  as  her  groom,  or  manservant.  The  king  put  on 
a  suit  of  gray  like  a  serving  man,  mounted  a  strong  horse, 
and  took  Jane  Lane  behind  him  on  the  pillion,  as  was 
the  custom  in  those  days.  Then  he  set  out  for  Bristol 
in  the  hope  of  finding  a  vessel  there. 

In  the  course  of  their  journey,  the  lady  stopped  for 
the  night  at  the  house  of  a  country  gentleman  ;  and 
the  king,  to  keep  up  his  character  of  a  servant,  had  to 
remain  in  the  kitchen.  The  cook  bade  him  wind  up 
the  jack,  on  which  the  meat  was  roasting ;  but  he  was 
very  clumsy  about  it. 

"  Where  have  you  come  from,"  cried  the  cook,  "  that 
you  don't  know  how  to  wind  up  a  jack  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  sir,  I  am  but  a  poor  farmer's  son,"  replied 
the  young  prince,  "  and  it  is  but  seldom  we  see  meat  at 
home ;  and  when  we  have  it,  we  don't  use  a  jack  to 
roast  it." 

The  king  had  many  a  narrow  escape  before  he  came  to 
his  journey's  end.  One  day,  when  his  horse  had  lost  a 
shoe,  he  had  to  stop  at  a  blacksmith's  to  have  it  put  on. 

The  blacksmith  said  to  him,  "  What  news  to-day  ? 
Have  they  caught  that  rogue,  Charles  Stuart,  yet  ? " — 
meaning  the  king. 


134  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

"  No,"  said  Charles,  chuckling  to  himself,  "  they  haven't 
caught  him  yet.  But  when  they  do  catch  him,  I  hope 
they  '11  cut  his  head  off." 

"  So  do  I,"  said  the  blacksmith. 

Another  time  when  he  came  to  an  inn,  he  found  the 
stable-yard  full  of  Cromwell's  soldiers.  If  he  had  turned 
back,  he  would  most  likely  have  been  found  out.  So  he 
put  on  a  bold  face  and  rode  his  horse  right  in  the  midst 
of  them.  "  Now  then,  you  stupid  fool !  "  cried  the  sol- 
diers, "  can't  you  see  where  you  are  going  ? "  They 
little  knew  that  the  stupid  groom  was  Charles  Stuart, 
king  of  England  ! 

At  last  the  king  escaped  in  a  vessel  and  reached 
France  in  safety.  He  stayed  abroad  till  Cromwell 
was  dead,  and  until  his  people  sent  for  him  to  come  back 
home.  As  he  rode  into  London  on  the  2Qth  of  May, 
his  own  birthday,  there  was  great  joy  among  the 
people.  Most  of  them  wore  oak  leaves  in  their  caps  to 
keep  them  in  mind  of  the  "  royal  oak  "  that  saved  King 
Charles  from  his  enemies.  Even  yet  the  English 
people  call —  . 

"  The  twenty-ninth  of  May  — 
Royal  Oak  Day." 


29.  THE  STORY  OF  THE  GREAT  PLAGUE  IN  LONDON. 

In  the   Year   1665. 

DURING  the  very  hot  summer  of  the  year  1665, 
five  years  after  Charles  the  Second  came  to  the 
throne,  a  dreadful  plague  broke  out  in  London.  The 
plague  had  appeared  in  England  several  times  before, 
and  was  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Black  Death  " ; 
but  it  had  never  before  been  so  fatal  as  now. 

The  very  panic  caused  the  plague  to  spread ;  for 
nothing  makes  people  so  ready  to  catch  a  disease  as 
being  afraid  of  it. 

Another  thing  which  was  against  the  people  of  Lon- 
don was  the  unhealthful  condition  of  the  city.  The 
houses  were  very  old,  and  were  built  so  close  together 
that  hardly  any  fresh  air  could  get  in  between  them. 
Worse  still,  they  were  very  filthy. 

As  soon  as  the  plague  began,  every  one  who  could 
afford  it  hastened  to  leave  the  town.  The  roads  lead- 
ing to  the  country  were  crowded  with  coaches  and  foot- 
passengers,  while  carts  and  wagons  were  laden  with 
their  goods.  Thousands  of  servants  were  left  behind 
by  their  masters  ;  and  these  poor  creatures,  sad  and 
lonely,  wandered  about  in  the  streets,  not  knowing 
where  to  go.  In  the  general  fear,  children  ran  away 
from  their  parents  and  parents  from  their  children. 


36 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


Some  who  were  taken  ill  died  alone  without  any 
help.  Some  were  stabbed  or  strangled  by  hired  nurses, 
who  robbed  them  of  all  their  money  and  stole  the  very 
beds  on  which  they  lay.  Some  went  mad,  dropped  from 
the  windows,  ran  through  the  streets,  and  in  their  pain 
and  frenzy  flung  themselves  into  the  river.  People 

died    by    thousands  — 

somet^mes  as  many  as 

ten  thousand  in  a  week. 
Grass  grew  in  the 
streets  ;  whole  rows  of 
shops  were  shut ;  and 
the  only  business  in 
what  were  once  the  bus- 
iest streets  of  the  city 
was  the  sad  business  of 
funerals.  The  dead 
were  carried  away  in 
carts  and  emptied  into 
one  vast,  common  grave. 
At  night  the  dead  cart 
rumbled  through  the  streets ;  a  bell  was  rung,  and 
the  cry  resounded  mournfully  through  the  hushed  and 
almost  silent  city  :  "  Bring  out  your  dead  !  bring  out 
your  dead ! " 

When  any  person  was  seized  with  the  plague,  the 
house  in  which  he  lived  was  shut  up.  The  door  was 
fastened  on  the  outside,  a  red  cross  was  painted  upon 


A    LONDON    STREET   AT    NIGHT   DURING 
THE   PLAGUE. 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    GREAT    PLAGUE    IN    LONDON.      137 

it  with  the  words,  "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us."  A 
watchman  was  set  to  see  that  no  one  entered  and  no 
one  came  out.  Food  and  water  were  carried  to  these 
houses  at  fixed  times  every  day. 

These  were  not  all  the  horrors  of  the  time.  Many 
thought  they  saw  burning  swords  and  gigantic  darts 
in  the  sky.  Others  pretended  that  at  night  vast 
crowds  of  ghosts  walked  round  and  round  the  dismal 
pits  where  the  dead  were  buried. 

One  madman,  carrying  a  brazier  full  of  burning 
coals  upon  his  head,  stalked  through  the  streets  crying 
out  that  he  was  a  prophet  sent  to  declare  the  vengeance 
of  the  Lord  on  wicked  London.  Another  always  went 
to  and  fro,  exclaiming,  "Yet  forty  days,  and  London 
shall  be  destroyed  !  "  A  third  awoke  the  echoes  in  the 
dismal  streets  by  night  and  by  day,  and  made  the  blood 
of  the  sick  run  cold,  by  calling  out  in  a  deep,  hoarse 
voice,  "  Oh,  the  great  and  dreadful  God !  " 

A  good  clergyman,  who  refused  to  leave  his  parish 
and  his  people,  wrote,  "  Now  the  people  fall  as  thick  as 
the  leaves  in  autumn  when  they  are  shaken  by  a  mighty 
wind." 

In  September  large  bonfires  were  lighted  to  purify 
the  air ;  and  an  odd  sight  it  was  to  see  those  vast  fires 
blazing  in  the  middle  of  the  streets  night  and  day. 

As  the  cold  weather  set  in,  the  plague  by  degrees  died 
out.  The  number  of  deaths  began  to  decrease,  the  red 
crosses  slowly  to  disappear,  the  fugitives  to  return,  the 


138  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

shops  to  open  again,  and  pale,  frightened  faces  to  be  seen 
in  the  streets.  The  plague  had  been  in  every  part  of 
England;  but  in  close  and  unwholesome  London  alone, 
more  than  one  hundred  thousand  persons  had  died. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  next  year,  the  town  filled 
again.  It  must  have  been  a  sad  home-coming.  In 
many  houses  half  of  the  family  was  swept  away ;  in 
some,  all  had  died  —  from  the  oldest  to  the  youngest. 
"  Never  did  so  many  husbands  and  wives,"  says  a  quaint 
writer  of  that  day,  "  die  together;  never  did  so  many 
parents  carry  their  children  with  them  to  the  grave, 
and  go  together  into  the  same  house  under  the  earth 
who  had  lived  together  in  the  same  house  upon  it." 


30.     THE   GREAT  FIRE   OF  LONDON. 

In  the  Year  1666. 

NOW  you  must  know  that  London,  a  little  more  than 
two  hundred  years  ago,  was  a  city  of  narrow  and- 
crooked  streets.  The  houses  were  built  of  wood  and 
thatched  with  straw,  and  crowded  so  close  together  that 
persons  living  on  one  side  of  the  street  could  almost 
shake  hands  out  of  their  upper  windows  with  those  who 
lived  on  the  other  side.  This  was  very  unhealthful. 
But  a  terrible  remedy  was  at  hand. 

The  summer  of  1666  was  very  dry  and  very  hot,  as 
the  summer  of  the  plague  year  had  also  been.  A  ter- 
rible fire  broke  out  on  the  second  of  September.  It 
is  called  the  Great  Fire  because  never  before  or  since 
has  there  been  so  great  a  fire  in  England.  It  broke 
out  in  a  baker's  shop,  near  London  Bridge,  on  the  spot 
where  a  monument  now  stands  as  a  remembrance  of 
those  raging  flames. 

A  strong  east  wind  was  blowing,  and  the  flames 
spread  so  quickly  among  the  wooden  houses  that  the 
whole  city  was  soon  in  flames.  It  spread  and  spread, 
and  burned  and  burned  for  three  days.  The  nights  were 
lighter  than  the  days ;  in  the  daytime  there  was  a  huge 
cloud  of  smoke,  and  in  the  night  a  big  tower  of  fire 


I4O  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

mounting  up  into  the  sky,  which  lighted  the  whole 
country  for  miles  and  miles  around. 

Showers  of  hot  ashes  rose  into  the  air  and  fell  in 
places  far  away  ;  flying  sparks  carried  the  fire  to  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  city  and  kindled  it  in  twenty  new  spots 
at  a  time  ;  church  steeples  fell  down  with  tremendous 
crash,  and  houses  crumbled  into  cinders  by  the  hun- 
dred and  the  thousand. 

The  Londoners  who  stood  on  the  south  side  of  the 
river  Thames  saw  a  great  bank  of  fire  about  two  miles 
in  length  and  one  in  breadth.  The  noise,  the  crackling, 
the  roar  and  thunder  of  the  flames,  the  fall  of  houses, 
towers,  and  churches,  the  shrieking  of  women  and  chil- 
dren deafened  the  ears  as  the  glowing  flames  blinded 
the  eye.  It  looked  like  one  awful  storm  of  fire,  smoke, 
and  cinders.  The  air  was  so  filled  with  smoke  that  the 
sun  shone  through  it  with  a  color  like  blood. 

The  smoke  streamed  into  the  country  in  a  black 
column  nearly  fifty  miles  long ;  men  in  distant  parts 
of  the  land  walked  along  the  lanes  and  the  country 
roads  under  a  dark  shade  ;  and  the  rays  of  the  bright 
autumn  sun  were  shut  out  from  the  harvest  fields. 

The  country  roads  were  crowded  with  poor  people 
hurrying  from  the  doomed  city ;  and  the  river  Thames 
was  covered  with  boats  and  barges  full  of  furniture 
and  frightened  families.  Looking  towards  the  burning 
houses,  they  saw  their  pigeons,  of  which  they  were  so 
fond,  fly  round  and  round  the  blazing  windows  where 


THE    GREAT    FIRE    OF    LONDON.  14! 

they  used  to  come  to  be  fed,  and  then  fall  suddenly 
into  the  all-devouring  flames. 

The  fields  to  the  north  of  London  were  filled  with 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  houseless  men,  women, 
and  children.  They  lay  on  the  ground  or  sat  upon 
any  pieces  of  furniture  they  had  been  able  to  save,  with 
hunger  and  poverty  staring  them  in  the  face,  "  yet  not 
asking  one  penny  for  relief." 

The  fire  was  stopped  by  blowing  up  numbers  of 
houses  with  gunpowder,  thus  making  gaps  so  large  that 
the  flames  could  not  overleap  them. 

King  Charles  the  Second  and  his  brother,  who  was 
afterwards  James  the  Second,  along  with  some  other 
gentlemen,  eagerly  took  charge  of  this  work  and  spared 
no  pains  in  showing  how  it  must  be  done. 

The  fire  raged  for  three  days.  When  it  had  stopped, 
it  was  found  that  the  cathedral,  —  St.  Paul's,  —  89 
churches,  460  streets,  and  13,200  dwelling  houses  had 
been  destroyed. 

It  was  seemingly  a  great  misfortune,  but  in  reality 
a  great  blessing.  The  city  afterwards  arose  from  its 
ruins  very  much  improved.  The  dirty,  narrow  streets 
had  disappeared  ;  new  streets  were  built,  much  broader, 
more  breezy,  and  more  open  to  the  healthful  influences 
of  the  sun  and  the  air. 


31.     THE   FLIGHT   OF  KING   JAMES   THE  SECOND. 

James  the  Second  reigned  from  1685  to  1689. 

JAMES  the  Second  was  the  last  of  the  four  Stuart 
kings  of  England.  Like  his  father,  Charles  the 
First,  he  was  not  on  good  terms  with  his  subjects. 
When  he  came  to  the  throne  he  made  a  sacred  pledge 
to  abide  by  the  laws  of  the  land.  The  pledge  was 
heartily  received  by  the  whole  country.  "  We  have  the 
word  of  a  king  "  was  the  cry  of  the  people. 

King  James  was  looked  upon  as  narrow,  stubborn, 
and  despotic  in  heart,  but  even  his  enemies  did  not 
accuse  him  of  being  false.  Above  all,  he  was  believed 
to  be  keenly  alive  to  the  honor  of  his  country. 

It  would  be  too  long  a  story  to  tell  you  of  the  bitter 
struggle  between  the  king  and  his  unhappy  subjects. 
At  last,  the  king  proved  a  traitor  to  the  interests 
of  the  people  and  of  the  nation.  He  was  hated  and 
despised  by  both  his  friends  and  his  enemies  for  his 
many  cruel  and  tyrannical  acts.  Good  and  true  men  of 
all  parties  thought  it  to  be  for  the  best  interest  of  the 
nation  to  get  rid  of  their  arrogant  king. 

And  so,  after  the  struggle  had  gone  on  for  some  time, 
they  sent  a  message  to  a  Dutch  prince,  William  of 
Orange,  who  had  married  Mary,  the  daughter  of  James 
himself,  asking  him  to  come  over  and  be  their  king. 


THE    FLIGHT    OF    KING    JAMES    THE    SECOND.  143 

William  at  once  collected  a  large  fleet,  and  with 
a  strong  army  landed  at  the  little  port  of  Torbay,  in 
the  south  of  Devonshire.  He  had  previously  issued  an 
address  to  the  people,  saying  that  he  was  coming  to 
protect  their  religious  and  civil  liberties. 

When  the  news  of  William's  landing  reached  Lon- 
don, the  friends  and  favorites,  and  even  the  children  of 
James,  fled  from  their  royal  master.  First  his  nephew, 
then  his  son-in-law,  and  then  his  second  daughter,  Annie, 
deserted  him.  When  James  heard  the  news  that  his 
daughter  had  fled  from  his  palace,  he  burst  into  tears 
and  exclaimed,  "  God  help  me  !  Even  my  own  chil- 
dren have  forsaken  me  !  " 

William  was  slowly  and  steadily  marching  on  to 
London  with  his  troops ;  and  at  length  James  saw 
there  was  no  hope  left,  and  that  the  time  had  come 
when  he  must  flee.  First  of  all  he  sent  away  his  wife. 
About  three  in  the  morning,  the  queen,  carrying  her 
infant  child  in  her  arms,  went  down  the  river  stairs  of 
Whitehall  Palace  and  got  into  a  small  boat.  It  was  a 
dark  and  dismal  night  in  December  ;  the  rain  poured 
in  torrents  ;  the  Thames  was  swollen  with  a  high  tide  ; 
a  strong  wind  was  blowing ;  but  at  length  the  boat 
reached  the  pier  at  Lambeth. 

The  coach  that  had  been  ordered  was  not  ready. 
The  queen  was  afraid  to  go  into  the  inn  where  her  face 
might  be  known,  so  she  crouched  under  the  tower  of 
Lambeth  Church  for  shelter  from  the  storm.  The  babe 


144  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

was  well  wrapped  up,  warm  and  cosy,  and  so  did  not 
cry.  At  last  the  coach  was  ready,  and  the  queen  was 
driven  to  Gravesend,  where  she  found  a  vessel,  in  which 
she  escaped  to  France. 

Louis  the  Fourteenth,  the  king  of  France,  received 
her  very  kindly,  and  gave  her  a  palace  for  her  dwelling 
and  a  yearly  sum  of  money  to  live  on.  Eight  days  after 
the  queen's  escape,  James  also  left  Whitehall,  and  made 
his  way,  after  some  wonderful  escapes,  to  the  shores  of 
France.  He  also  was  most  kindly  received  by  Louis. 

The  two  kings  went  together  to  Queen  Mary's  room. 
Stopping  at  the  door,  the  French  king  bowed  kindly, 
and  said  to  her,  "  Here  is  a  gentleman,  cousin,  whom 
you  will  be  very  glad  to  see." 

James  never  again  set  foot  in  England,  and  with 
him  ended  the  reign  of  the  Stuarts.  He  foolishly 
thought  himself  above  the  law  —  as  no  one  is  or  can 
be ;  and  this  wrong  notion  had  cost  his  father  his  head, 
as  it  now  cost  James  himself  his  crown. 

When  it  was  found  that  the  king  had  fled,  the  Prince 
of  Orange  called  a  Parliament,  and  after  some  time  it 
was  agreed  that  the  flight  of  King  James  had  made 
the  throne  of  England  vacant.  It  was  then  offered  to 
William  and  his  wife,  Mary. 

This  event  in  English  history  is  known  as  the  Revo- 
lution of  1688. 


32.     THE   FAMOUS   SIEGE   OF  LONDONDERRY. 

In  the  Year  1689. 

WHEN  William,  Prince  of  Orange,  was  made  king 
of  England  in  1688,  most  of  the  Irish  people 
remained  true  to  the  old  king,  James  the  Second.  A 
bitter  war  broke  out  between  the  followers  of  William 
and  those  of  James.  One  of  the  most  stirring  events 
in  this  war  was  the  siege  of  Londonderry. 

Londonderry,  or  Derry  as  it  is  often  called,  is  a  fine 
seaport  town  in  the  north  of  Ireland.  It  stands  on  the 
bank  of  a  river  up  which  the  tide  flows  from  the  outer 
sea.  The  people  of  the  town  were  of  English  and 
Scotch  descent.  They  took  sides  with  William  and 
Mary. 

William  was  at  this  time  too  busy  elsewhere  to  come 
to  Ireland.  His  followers  in  that  country  had,  therefore, 
to  do  the  best  they  could  for  themselves.  The  king 
of  France  had  sent  James  both  money  and  officers  to 
drill  his  army ;  and  James  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
get  back  his  kingdom  of  Ireland.  If  he  gained  that, 
he  might  then  try  for  England. 

James  and  his  army  marched  on  Londonderry.  The 
governor  of  the  town,  whose  name  was  Lundy,  had 
no  hope  of  being  able  to  hold  out.  The  defences  of  the 
place  were  almost  in  ruins. 


146  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

The  walls  were  overgrown  with  grass  and  weeds ; 
there  were  no  ramparts  that  could  keep  out  an  enemy ; 
and  the  towers  and  forts  were  too  weak  to  stand  the  fire 
of  cannon. 

They  had  no  regular  soldiers  in  the  place.  Their 
supply  of  firearms  was  short,  and  the  townspeople  were 
not  used  to  military  drill.  They  had  very  few  pieces  of 
cannon.  The  few  they  had  were  in  bad  order,  and 
they  had  scarcely  any  man  who  knew  how  to  serve 
them.  Worst  of  all,  they  were  short  of  provisions. 

The  governor  thought  the  only  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  give  up  the  town.  But  the  townspeople  did  not 
agree  with  him.  Led  by  a  good  old  clergyman,  they 
declared  that  they  were  ready  to  die  rather  than  give  in  ; 
and  they  at  once  began  to  put  the  defences  of  the  town 
in  better  order. 

When  King  James  appeared  with  his  army,  he 
marched  up  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  town,  ex- 
pecting to  be  able  to  walk  in  at  once  and  without  fight- 
ing. But  he  was  met  with  cries  of  "  No  surrender !  "  and 
with  a  shot  from  a  cannon,  which  made  him  get  out  of 
the  way  in  somewhat  of  a  hurry. 

The  people  were  so  angry  with  the  governor  that 
they  would  have  torn  him  to  pieces.  He  was  for  some 
time  in  great  fear ;  but  the  good  clergyman  helped  him 
to  get  away.  He  left  the  place  by  night,  climbing  down 
the  town  wall  by  the  branches  of  a  pear  tree,  and  made 
off. 


THE    FAMOUS    SIEGE    OF    LONDONDERRY.  147 

For  nine  days  a  constant  fire  of  cannon  was  kept  up 
against  the  city.  Then  James,  thinking  the  time  was 
come,  ordered  his  men  to  march  in.  But  the  brave 
citizens  would  not  let  them.  They  lined  the  wall  in 
three  ranks.  Those  behind  loaded  the  muskets  of  those 
in  front ;  the  women  handed  their  brothers,  fathers,  and 
husbands  powder  and  shot.  All  fought  so  well  that 
they  beat  back  the  forces  of  James  at  every  point. 

James  was  in  a  terrible  rage  with  the  people  of  the 
town.  "Very  well,"  he  cried,  "if  we  cannot  beat  them, 
we  can  stary.e  them  out !  "  No  food  could  now  be  sent 
into  Londonderry.  Ships  from  England  laden  with 
food,  soldiers,  and  powder  and  shot  had  come  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river  on  which  the  town  stands  ;  but  the 
enemy  had  placed  cannon  on  both  banks,  and  had  also 
blocked  the  channel  with  a  boom  made  of  logs  and  iron 
chains  to  prevent  the  ships  from  sailing  up. 

The  people  were  soon  brought  to  a  fearful  state. 
Most  of  them  became  mere  skin  and  bone,  with  sunken 
cheeks  and  hollow  eyes.  Dogs,  cats,  rats,  horses,  and 
tallow  —  all  were  eaten  up. 

Even  hides  were  gnawed  and  sucked  for  some  little 
support.  Grain  was  doled  out  by  mouthfuls  ;  the  price 
of  a  dog's  paw  was  five  shillings.  An  old  shoe  was 
looked  upon  as  a  good  dinner ;  and  rats  were  taken  in 
traps  and  eaten.  If  a  man  caught  a  fish  in  the  river, 
he  would  not  sell  it  for  money ;  he  would  ta*ke  nothing 
but  food  in  exchange. 


148  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

No  one  spoke  of  giving  in.  The  weaker  died  so 
fast  that  they  could  not  be  buried,  —  no  one  was  strong 
enough  to  dig  their  graves.  And  yet  no  one  spoke  of 
yielding.  Still  the  people  called  out  from  the  walls, 
"  No  surrender  !  " 

At  last,  when  the  poor  people  of  the  town  were 
brought  to  their  last  scrap  of  food,  three  of  King 
William's  vessels  made  their  way  up  the  river.  One 
of  them  broke  the  boom  and  the  other  two  passed  safely 
through  the  breach. 

It  was  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  the  ships  arrived  at 
the  wharves.  And  what  a  scene  was  there !  All  the 
people  of  the  town  were  gathered  to  see  the  unloading 
of  the  ships.  What  cheers  !  What  thankful  prayers  ! 
What  joyful  sobs  were  heard  as  the  sailors  rolled  on 
shore  barrels  of  Scotch  meal,  casks  of  beef,  kegs  of 
butter,  sacks  of  pease  and  biscuit,  huge  cheeses,  and 
flitches  of  bacon  ! 

James  and  his  army  now  saw  that  it  was  a  hopeless 
task  to  try  to  take  a  town  defended  by  people  so 
courageous,  so  enduring  under  suffering,  as  was  this 
people.  They  therefore  marched  off. 

The  next  morning  the  townspeople  saw,  instead  of  the 
white  tents  of  the  Irish  army,  scores  of  blazing  bonfires 
reddening  all  the  air.  Then  all  were  filled  with  glad- 
ness; they  rushed  to  the  church  bells  and  rang  out  loud 
and  merry  peals  of  joy  for  the  freedom  that  had  at  last 
come  to  them. 


33.     BONNIE   PRINCE   CHARLIE'S   ESCAPE.  , 

In  the  Year  1746. 

WHEN  the  little  babe,  the  son  of  James  the  Second, 
who  was  carried  off  by  his  mother  from  White- 
hall that  dark  December  night,  grew  to  be  a  man, 
he  made  an  attempt  to  get  back  the  crown  which  his 
father  had  lost.  But  he  did  not  succeed. 

His  son  also  tried,  and  he  too  failed.  The  son  of 
James  the  Second  is  known  as  the  Old  Pretender ;  his 
grandson  as  the  Young  Pretender.  The  name  of  the 
Old  Pretender  was  Prince  James  ;  that  of  the  Young 
Pretender  was  Prince  Charles  Edward,  or  as  the 
Scotch,  with  whom  he  was  a  great  favorite,  called  him, 
"  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie."  • 

The  hopes  of  Prince  Charlie  were  ruined  in  the 
crushing  defeat  which  he  and  his  brave  Highland  sol- 
diers suffered  on  the  field  of  Culloden,  near  the  town 
of  Inverness,  in  1746.  He  had  to  flee  for  his  life.  He 
wandered  up  and  down  the  Highlands  of  Scotland ;  and 
although  his  hiding-places  were  known  to  hundreds  of 
persons,  who  were  mostly  very  poor,  and  though  the 
large  reward  of  thirty  thousand  pounds  had  been  offered 
to  any  one  who  would  give  him  up,  no  man  even 
thought  of  pointing  a  finger  to  his  place  of  conceal- 
ment. 


I5O  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Many  shielded  the  poor  prince  at  the  risk  of  their 
own  lives  ;  and,  after  five  months  of  wandering,  he  es- 
caped safely  to  France.  During  these  weary  months  he 
had  endured  many  hardships, —  cold,  hunger,  and  fatigue. 
Though  constantly  in  danger,  he  showed  himself  brave 
and  cheerful ;  and  this  is  one  reason  why  the  Scotch 
people  loved  him  so  well. 

He  was  hunted  by  soldiers  night  and  day,  as  if  he 
were  a  wild  beast ;  and  he  had  to  be  always  moving 
from  place  to  place.  Sometimes  he  would  snatch  a  few 
hours'  sleep  in  a  cowshed,  on  a  heap  of  dirty  straw ;  at 
other  times  he  would  sleep  in  a  cave,  or  even  on  the 
open  hillside.  His  food  was  of  the  coarsest  kind,  served 
in  the  iron  kettle  in  which  it  had  been  cooked.  Out  of 
it  he  and  his  followers  ate  in  company,  the  prince  being 
the  only  one  who  had  a  silver  spoon.  One  day  all  he 
could  get  was  a  mixture  of  oatmeal  and  sea-water. 

Hunger,  illness,  wet  and  rough  weather  sorely  changed 
the  handsome  looks  of  the  gay  young  prince.  A  Scot- 
tish poet  sang  of  him  : 

"  On  hills  that  are  by  right  his  own 

He  roams  a  lonely  stranger; 
On  every  hand  he  's  pressed  by  want, 
On  every  side  by  danger." 

One  morning  Prince  Charlie  shot  a  deer,  and  his  faith- 
ful follower  Burke  was  cooking  some  steaks  cut  from 
it.  A  poor  starved  boy,  who  chanced  to  pass,  snatched 
up  one  of  the  steaks,  and  Burke  gave  him  a  heavy 


BONNIE    PRINCE    CHARLIE  S    ESCAPE. 


blow  on  the  head.  Charles  turned  to  his  follower  and 
said  :  "  Ned,  you  don't  remember  the  Scriptures.  They 
tell  us  to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked.  You 
ought  to  give  him  a  meal  rather  than  a  blow." 

It  was  when  hiding  in  the  west  of  Scotland  that  he 
met  Flora  Macdonald,  a  brave  and  gentle  lady  whose 


FLORA    MACDONALD    HELPS    PRINCE    CHARLIE   TO    ESCAPE. 

home  was  in  the  island  of  Skye.  Prince  Charlie  was 
by  this  time  in  a  wretched  condition.  When  Flora 
saw  him,  she  wept.  She  promised  to  be  his  guide  to 
Skye,  and  obtained  from  her  father  a  safe  conduct  for 
herself  and  an  Irish  girl,  Betty  Burke. 


152  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Next  morning  the  prince  was  dressed  as  Betty  Burke, 
and  in  this  disguise  he  set  out  on  his  journey  with  his 
companion.  All  night  they  rowed  through  a  wild  storm 
to  Skye ;  but  a  greater  danger  awaited  them  on  shore. 
Flora  went  alone  to  the  castle  of  a  friendly  nobleman 
to  seek  help  for  the  prince. 

There  she  found  a  party  of  soldiers  who  were  search- 
ing for  the  Pretender ;  but  with  the  help  of  friends  he 
reached  a  place  of  safety. 

If  it  had  not  been  for  the  risk  they  ran,  his  friends 
would  have  been  amused  by  the  mistakes  made  by  the 
prince  in  his  character  of  Betty  Burke.  Once  when 
crossing  a  stream,  he  lifted  the  skirts  of  his  dress.  Next 
time  he  forgot  it  and  let  his  dress  float  in  the  water ; 
and  when  the  country  people  curtesied  to  the  party,  the 
prince  bowed  instead  of  curtesying  in  return.  "  You 
are  the  worse  Pretender,"  said  his  friend  Lord  Kins- 
burgh,  "  that  I  ever  saw." 

A  few  hours  later,  Lady  Kinsburgh,  who  had  retired 
early,  was  startled  by  her  little  girl  running  into  the 
room  and  crying  that  her  father  had  "  brought  home  the 
oddest  wife  she  had  ever  seen,  and  had  brought  her 
into  the  hall  too,  where  she  was  walking  backwards  and 
forwards  in  a  manner  perfectly  frightful." 

In  a  few  days  Flora  Macdonald  bade  farewell  to 
the  prince,  and  never  saw  him  again.  Prince  Charlie 
returned  to  France,  but  never  again  to  Scotland. 

The  love  of  those  who  served  him,  however,  did  not 


BONNIE    PRINCE    CHARLIES    ESCAPE.  153 

die,  even  when  all  hope  of  his  return  was  gone.  Long 
afterwards  his  memory  was  cherished,  and  many  a  stir- 
ring song  is  still  sung  of  "  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie."  The 
following  lines  are  an  example  of  this  devoted  loyalty 
to  a  hopeless  cause  : 

"  Over  the  water,  and  over  the  sea, 
And  over  the  water  to  Charlie  ; 
Come  weal,  come  woe,  we  '11  gather  and  go, 

And  live  or  die  with  Charlie." 

*  , 

This  was  the  last  attempt  of  the  Stuart  line  to  regain 
the  throne  of  their  fathers;  and  when  in  1788  the 
unfortunate  prince  died  in  Rome,  the  ill-fated  house  of 
Stuart  disappeared  from  history. 


34.  THE  BLACK  HOLE  OF  CALCUTTA. 

In  the  Year  1756. 

\  yiCTORIA,  Queen  of  Great  Britain,  is  now  also 
*  Empress  of  India,  and  rules  over  more  than  two 
hundred  millions  of  subjects  in  that  far-away  country. 
But  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  Great  Britain 
had  little  power  in  India,  and  the  native  rulers  and 
princes  could  do  pretty  much  as  they  pleased. 

There  was,  in  the  year  1756,  a  native  prince  whose 
name  was  Surajah  Dolwah  ;  he  ruled  over  Bengal  and 
some  other  countries  near  it.  This  prince  took  of- 
fence at  the  English  in  India,  marched  to  Calcutta  at 
the  head  of  a  large  army,  and  laid  siege  to  the  fort. 
The  fort  of  Calcutta  was  held  by  a  commander  named 
Holwell,  who,  with  the  aid  of  a  few  brave  officers  and 
a  small  but  active  body  of  troops,  kept  it  against  the 
large  army  of  the  Indian  prince. 

At  length,  however,  the  brave  commander  had  to 
give  it  up  ;  and  the  prince  promised  on  the  word  of 
a  soldier  that  no  harm  should  be  done  either  to  him 
or  to  any  of  his  officers  or  men  or  to  their  wives.  In 
spite  of  his  promise,  one  hundred  and  forty-six  English 
residents,  one  of  whom  was  a  woman,  were  driven,  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet,  into  a  place  known  in  history 
by  the  name  of  the  "  Black  Hole." 


THE    BLACK    HOLE    OF    CALCUTTA.  155 

This  was  a  room  less  than  twenty  feet  square,  with 
two  small  windows  —  barred  with  iron  —  to  the  west ; 
but  these  were  of  little  use  for  the  supply  of  fresh  air. 

It  was  summer.  The  night  was  close  and  sultry. 
There  was  not  a  breath  of  wind.  Many  of  the  prisoners 
were  wounded,  and  all  of  them  were  worn  out  with 
hard  work.  When  they  saw  that  the  Indian  prince  had 
broken  his  vow  and  that  they  were  in  danger  of  dying 
for  want  of  fresh  air,  they  were  filled  with  rage. 

They  tried  to  open  the  door,  that  they  might  rush 
upon  the  swords  of  the  Indian  soldiers  who  stood 
guard  outside.  But  the  door  opened  inwards,  and  the 
crowd  inside  pressed  strongly  upon  it.  Mr.  Holwell, 
who  was  standing  at  one  of  the  windows,  spoke  to  a 
sergeant  of  the  Indian  guard  and  offered  him  two  hun- 
dred pounds,  or  one  thousand  dollars  in  our  money,  if  he 
would  place  half  of  them  in  another  room.  The  sol- 
dier was  eager  for  the  reward  and  promised  to  do  what 
he  could.  But  in  a  few  minutes  he  returned  and  told 
him  that  the  prince  was  asleep,  and  that  no  one  dared 
to  go  near  him. 

A  fearful  sweat  now  broke  out  on  every  one,  and  this 
was  followed  by  a  terrible  thirst.  The  poor  creatures 
stripped  themselves  of  their  clothes,  sat  down  on  the 
floor,  and  fanned  the  air  with  their  hats.  But  many 
were  unable  to  rise  again  and  were  trodden  or  choked 
to  death.  Every  one  was  gasping  for  a  breath  of  fresh 
air. 


156  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

All  wished  for  death  to  put  an  end  to  their  sufferings. 
They  shouted  insults  to  the  Indian  guards  to  provoke 
them  to  fire  upon  them.  When  this  was  in  vain,  the 
cry  of  "  Water  !  water  ! "  rose  from  every  mouth.  The 
Indian  sergeant  ordered  some  skins  of  water  to  be 
brought  to  the  window.  Some  went  mad  at  the  very 
sight  of  it.  There  was  no  other  way  of  passing  it 
through  the  windows  to  the  poor  wretches  than  by 
hats.  Many  fought  to  get  nearest  the  windows,  and  the 
weaker  of  them  were  soon  trampled  to  the  ground  and 
sank  never  to  rise  again. 

In  the  morning  when  the  prison  door  was  opened 
one  hundred  and  twenty-three  persons  lay  dead.  Only 
twenty-three  remained  alive.  Pale  as  corpses,  weak, 
withered,  sunken-eyed,  these  twenty-three  persons  stag- 
gered forth  from  their  foul  and  awful  prison.  Men  of 
thirty  looked  like  old  men  of  eighty ;  for  the  hours 
they  had  spent  among  the  dying  and  dead  seemed  like 
years  of  misery -to  the  survivors  of  this  most  dastardly 
deed. 

Some  months  later  the  famous  Lord  Clive  avenged 
this  terrible  crime.  The  army  of  the  cruel  prince  was 
routed  in  the  battle  of  Plassey  with  great  slaughter. 
That  victory  made  the  English  masters  of  Bengal,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  British  rule  over  the  vast  Indian 
Empire. 


35.     THE   BRAVE   LORD  NELSON. 

The   Battle   of   Trafalgar  was   fought  in   the   Year  1805. 

WHEN  some  of  your  great  grandfathers  were  little 
boys,  there  was  a  great  war  between  England 
and  France.  Many  of  the  battles  were  fought  at  sea. 
England  had  good  ships  and  brave  sailors  and  bold 
captains  in  plenty ;  but  the  best  sailor  and  the  boldest 
captain  of  them  all  was  Lord  Horatio  Nelson. 

When  he  first  went  to  sea,  at  twelve  years  of  age, 
he  was  a  wee  bit  of  a  lad  ;  but  he  was  full  of  pluck  and 
spirit,  and  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  afraid.  He 
sailed. all  over  the  world  before  he  was  a  man,  and 
when  war  broke  out  he  was  made  captain  of  a  man-of- 
war.  He  fought  and  beat  the  French  in  many  a  brave 
sea  fight ;  and  you  will  surely  wish  to  read  about  his 
victories  when  you  are  older. 

In  one  battle  this  brave  officer  lost  an  eye,  in  another 
he  lost  an  arm ;  but  though  he  had  but  one  eye  and  one 
arm,  he  was  always  the  first  in  the  fight  and  the  last 
out.  He  never  would  give  in.  At  the  battle  of  Copen- 
hagen two  of  his  ships  ran  aground.  Admiral  Parker, 
who  had  command  of  the  fleet,  thought  Nelson  had  no 
chance  of  winning ;  so  he  hung  out  the  signal  to  "  stop 
fighting." 

But  Nelson  took  no  heed  of  it.     His  one  eye  danced 


158 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 


with  glee  as  the  guns  roared,  and  ropes  and  bits  of 
timber  flew  through  the  air.  When  a  shot  struck  the 
mast  of  his  own  ship  and  broke  it  to  bits,  he  only  said, 
"  Warm  work  this  !  But  I  would  n't  be  out  of  it  for  all 

the  world  !  "  Some  one 
told  him  that  the  signal 
was  up  to  "  stop  fight- 
ing." 

He  laughed;  and, 
putting  the  glass  to  his 
blind  eye,  he  said  :  "  I 
don't  see  the  signal. 
Keep  mine  flying  for 
closer  battle.  Nail  it  to 
the  mast."  And  he  kept 
on  fighting  till  he  won 
the  battle ;  and  for  his 
great  victory  he  was 
made  lord  admiral  of 
the  fleet. 

Nelson's  last  fight 
was  at  Trafalgar,  off  the 
coast  of  Spain.  A  great  fleet  of  French  and  Spanish 
ships  was  on  its  way  to  England.  The  French  hoped  to 
sweep  the  English  ships  from  the  seas,  and  to  land  a 
French  army  on  the  coast  of  England.  But  Nelson 
went  out  to  fight  them,  and  came  up  with  them  in  Tra- 
falgar Bay.  He  made  ready  at  once  for  battle,  knowing 


DEATH    OF    NELSON. 


THE    BRAVE    LORD    NELSON.  159 

that  if  he  won  it  England  would  be  saved.  He  felt  sure 
of  victory.  Yet  he  could  not  help  thinking  that  he 
would  lose  his  own  life  before  the  day  was  over. 

When  Captain  Blackwood,  who  came  for  orders,  left 
to  go  back  to  his  ship,  Nelson  shook  hands  with  him 
and  said,  "  God  bless  you,  Blackwood,  I  shall  never  see 
you  again  !  "  Before  the  battle  began,  Nelson  hung 
out  his  last  famous  signal,  "  England  expects  every  man 
to  do  his  duty  " ;  and  the  sailors  in  answer  gave  a  ring- 
ing British  cheer. 

Nelson's  ship  was  called  the  "  Victory."  It  was  sta- 
tioned in  the  hottest  part  of  the  battle.  He  wore  his 
admiral's  coat,  with  all  his  medals  and  crosses  on  his 
breast.  His  officers  asked  him  to  take  them  off,  saying 
that  if  the  French  saw  them  they  would  know  who  he 
was,  and  would  be  sure  to  fire  at  him.  But  Nelson  would 
not.  "  No,"  he  said,  "  in  honor  I  won  them,  and  in 
honor  I  will  die  with  them." 

In  the  midst  of  the  battle  when  every  man  was  sure 
of  victory,  a  bullet  from  a  French  ship  struck  Nelson 
in  the  back,  and  he  fell  with  face  forwards  on  the  deck. 
Captain  Hardy  was  soon  at  his  side. 

"  Hardy,"  said  Nelson,  "  they  have  done  for  me  at 
last." 

"  I  hope  not,"  said  Hardy. 

"Yes,"  replied  Nelson,  "my  back  bone  is  shot 
through." 

They  carried  him  below,  while  the  battle  still  went  on. 


l6o  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

After  a  while  Hardy  went  below  and  found  Nelson 
waiting  eagerly  to  hear  the  news  of  the  battle. 

"  Well,  Hardy,"  said  the  admiral,  "  how  goes  the  day 
with  us?" 

"  Very  well,"  said  Hardy  ;  "  ten  of  the  French  ships 
have  struck  their  colors." 

When  he  found  that  all  went  well,  the  dying  admiral 
spoke  of  himself.  "  Hardy,"  he  said,  "  I  am  a  dead  man. 
I  am  going  fast."  Hardy  went  on  deck  again,  but  came 
back  at  the  end  of  an  hour,  and  told  Nelson  that  fifteen 
ships  had  been  taken.  "  That  is  well,"  said  Nelson. 

Then  he  took  Hardy's  hand  and  said  to  him,  in  a  low 
voice,  "  Don't  throw  me  overboard  !  Kiss  me  !  "  Hardy 
knelt  down  and  kissed  him. 

"  Now,"  said  Nelson,  "  I  am  satisfied.  God  bless  you, 
Hardy  !  Thank  God,  I  have  done  my  duty." 

These  were  his  last  words.  The  battle  had  been  won. 
England  was  safe,  and  as  brave  a  spirit  as  ever  lived 
had  gone  to  its  rest. 


36.      THE   IRON  DUKE   AND  THE   BATTLE   OF  WATERLOO. 

The  Battle  of  Waterloo  was  fought  in  the  Year  1815. 

WHILE  the  brave  Lord  Nelson  was  fighting  Eng- 
land's battles  at  sea,  there  was  another,  as  great 
as  he,  fighting  her  battles  on  land.  This  was  Arthur 
Wellesley,  afterwards  made  Duke  of  Wellington,  and 
sometimes  called  the  "  Iron  Duke."  He  was  born  in 
Ireland  and  educated  at  Eton,  but  he  spent  some 
time  in  a  French  military  college  learning  the  art  of 
war. 

His  French  masters,  who  taught  him  how  to  fight, 
little  thought  they  were  teaching  him  to  defeat  all  their 
best  generals.  But  so  it  was.  After  winning  great  fame 
in  India,  Wellesley  was  sent  out  to  Spain,  where  he 
won  many  victories  over  the  French,  beating  all  of 
Napoleon's  most  famous  generals  and  driving  his  army 
back  over  the  Pyrenees. 

But  the  most  famous  battle  that  Wellington  ever 
won  was  the  great  battle  of  Waterloo,  which  was  fought 
near  Brussels  in  Belgium.  Here  he  faced  the  great 
Napoleon  himself.  It  was  the  first  and  last  time  that 
Wellington  and  Napoleon  ever  met.  The  French  em- 
peror was  eager  to  crush  the  man  who  had  beaten  his 
generals,  and  said  with  joy,  as  he  marched  towards 
Belgium  :  "  I  go  to  measure  swords  with  Wellington." 


1 62  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

When  Wellington  drew  up  his  troops  on  a  green  hill- 
slope,  with  a  great  forest  in  the  rear,  Napoleon  thought 
he  had  caught  him  in  a  trap,  and  cried  out  in  high  glee : 
"  Now  I  have  him  ! "  But  he  little  knew  the  man  he 
had  to  deal  with. 

On  the  forenoon  of  Sunday,  June  18,  1815,  when  the 
church  bells  were  ringing  in  England,  a  long,  loud  peal 
.from  the  French  ,cannon  broke  the  Sabbath  stillness  of 
Waterloo.  Then  began  that  battle  of  heroes  which 
lasted  till  sunset.  Again  and  again  did  the  French 
rush  forward  to  the  attack,  and  again  and  again  were 
they  driven  back. 

The  English,  who  were  mostly  drawn  up  in  squares, 
seemed  rooted  to  the  earth  like  masses  of  rock.  Time 
after  time  the  deadly  fire  from  the  French  guns  would 
make  bloody  gaps  in  their  ranks ;  but  at  the  stern, 
steady  cry,  "  Close  up  ! "  the  men  in  the  rear  would  take 
the  places  of  their  fallen  comrades.  Then  the  French 
horsemen,  with  steel  breastplates  and  flying  plumes, 
would  come  sweeping  down  upon  the  squares,  but  only 
to  be  shot  down  or  hurled  back  again  from  a  living 
hedge  of  steel. 

Wellington,  on  his  famous  horse  "  Copenhagen,"  rode 
from  post  to  post,  cheering  his  men  and  bidding  them 
"  stand  their  ground  to  the  last  man."  When  he  saw 
the  French  horsemen  rushing  up  to  a  square  that 
had  been  terribly  cut  up,  he  called  out,  "  Stand  firm,  my 
lads  !  what  will  they  say  of  this  in  England  !  "  Wherever 


THE    BATTLE    OF    WATERLOO.  163 

danger  was,  there  was  Wellington  to  be  found.  As  the 
shots  fell  thick  about  him,  he  coolly  remarked,  "  They 
shoot  better  than  they  did  in  Spain." 

When  he  saw  the  French  guns  making  such  havoc 
among  his  squares,  he  quietly  said,  "  Hard  pounding, 
gentlemen !  we  will  see  who  can  pound  the  longest." 
The  men  were  eager  to  be  led  against  the  French,  and 
some  of  the  Irish  regiments  began  to  murmur;  but 
Wellington  quieted  them,  and  said,  "  Not  yet,  lads ; 
wait  a  little  longer." 

At  one  time  during  the  day,  when  the  battle  seemed 
doubtful,  and  the  best  and  bravest  were  falling  thick 
and  fast,  some  of  his  officers  would  have  lost  heart,  but 
Wellington  kept  up  their  spirits.  "  Never  mind,"  he 
said  to  them,  "we'll  win  this  battle  yet."  At. last,  when 
it  was  near  sunset,  Napoleon  ordered  his  old  guards, 
who  had  never  yet  been  beaten,  to  charge  the  English 
and  make  one  last  effort  to  win  the  day. 

Wellington,  who  saw  them  coming  on,  placed  his 
own  guards  four  deep  in  a  ditch  behind  the  slope,  and 
waited  in  silence  for  the  charge.  When  the  French 
gained  the  ridge  they  saw  only  Wellington  and  his  staff. 
But  the  next  moment  they  heard  a  voice  —  it  was  the 
duke's  —  like  the  shrill  blast  of  a  trumpet,  cry,  "  Up, 
guards,  and  at  them  !"  From  the  ground  there  started 
up,  as  if  by  magic,  a  long  line  of  redcoats,  who  poured 
a  deadly  volley  into  the  French  and  then  rushed  at 
them  with  cold  steel. 


164  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

As  the  French  gave  way  and  fled  down  the  hill,  Wel- 
lington gave  the  long-wished-for  order  along  the  whole 
line  for  his  army  to  advance.  With  a  cheer  that  struck 
fear  into  the  hearts  of  the  French,  the  English,  who  had 
stood  still  all  day  to  be  shot  at,  now  sprang  gladly  for- 
ward ;  and  soon  the  whole  French  army  was  fleeing  in 
hopeless  rout. 

There  are  many  stones  of  brave  deeds  done  on  the 
field  of  Waterloo.  In  one  of  the  terrible  cavalry 
charges,  the  Highlanders  were  ordered  to  fall  back, 
when  the  sergeant  who  bore  the  colors  was  shot  dead 
and  fell  into  a  ditch.  The  French  horse  were  rushing 
down  upon  them,  and  in  another  moment  the  colors  of 
the  regiment  might  have  fallen  into  their  hands. 

A  stalwart  Highlander,  who  saw  the  danger,  leaped 
into  the  ditch  to  take  the  colors  from  the  dead  man's 
hands.  But  it  was  in  vain  ;  the  sergeant  even  in  death 
held  his  colors  with  a  grip  of  iron.  What  was  to  be 
done  ?  There  was  not  a  moment  to  lose.  The  High- 
lander did  not  hesitate.  Taking  up  his  comrade  —  flag 
and  all  —  he  lifted  him  on  to  his  back  and  made  off 
with  him  just  as  the  French  horsemen  reached  the  ditch. 

The  captain  of  the  French  cavalry,  seeing  the  brave 
deed,  shouted  to  his  men,  "  Halt !  "  Every  man  of  the 
troop  reined  in  his  horse  and  sat  looking  at  the  gallant 
Highlander ;  and  as  the  brave  fellow  made  off  with  the 
colors,  they  cheered  him  with  a  wild  hurrah,  shouting 
"  Bravo,  Scot !  " 


THE  BATTLE  OF  WATERLOO.  165 

On  one  of  the  slopes  of  Waterloo  there  was  an  old 
farmhouse  with  a  hedge  and  an  orchard  around  it ; 
Wellington  ordered  his  troops  to  hold  this  farm  at  any 
cost.  But  the  French  swarmed  round  about  it  and  set 
fire  to  the  hedges  and  orchard,  and  at  last  the  brave 
defenders  ran  short  of  powder  and  ball. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  If  the  poor  fellows  could  not 
have  powder  and  shot,  how  could  they  hold  their  ground 
against  the  French  ?  Two  wagons  filled  with  cartridges 
were  sent  off  at  once  to  the  farm.  But  the  hedge  was 
still  burning ;  and  as  the  first  wagon  with  its  driver 
crashed  through  it,  the  powder  took  fire,  and  horse, 
wagon,  and  driver  were  blown  into  atoms.  The  driver 
who  rode  the  horse  in  the  second  wagon  was  a  young 
country  lad  who  had  only  just  joined  the  army ;  but  he 
soon  showed  what  stuff  he  was  made  of.  He  spurred 
his  horse  into  a  gallop,  burst  through  the  burning  hedge, 
and  landed  the  powder-wagon  safely  on  the  other  side. 
"  It  was  bravely  done,"  said  Wellington  when  he  heard 
of  it,  "  and  if  that  lad  lives  out  this  day  I  will  make  him 
an  officer."  But  when  the  day  was  done,  that  brave 
country  lad  lay  dead  behind  the  farmyard  wall. 

Waterloo  was  a  battle  more  terrible  and  decisive  than 
Europe  had  known  for  centuries.  Not  long  afterward 
Napoleon  gave  himself  up  to  the  English,  and  Europe 
had  peace  for  forty  years. 


37.     TWO  GREAT  INVENTORS. 

ABOUT  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  a  little  boy 
in  the  town  of  Greenock  on  the  river  Clyde,  in 
Scotland,  used  to  be  scolded  by  his  aunt  for  meddling 
with  the  kitchen  tea  kettle.  He  would  hold  down  the 
lid  when  the  water  boiled,  or  he  would  take  off  the  lid 
and  put  it  on  again,  or  he  would  hold  a  silver  spoon 
over  the  steam  as  it  puffed  out  of  the  spout  and  watch 
it  turning  into  drops  of  water.  All  this  made  the  boy 
wonder  what  produced  the  force  that  lifted  the  cover  of 
the  kettle  and  made  it  rattle. 

His  aunt  thought  this  was  not  very  safe  work  for  a 
boy.  He  would  be  sure  to  scald  himself,  she  said, 
some  day.  Besides,  it  was  a  great  waste  of  time.  Had 
he  no  lessons  to  learn  ?  Had  he  no  books  to  read  ? 
Could  he  not  find  something  to  do  that  would  be  more 
useful  ?  Such  idle  habits  could  lead  to  nothing  good  ! 

This  idler,  this  dreamer,  was  James  Watt,  who  by  and 
by  gave  to  the  world  the  steam  engine  in  a  form  that 
was  fitted  for  everyday  use.  There  were  crude  steam 
engines  before  Watt's  time,  but  he  improved  them  so 
much  that  he  is  commonly  called  the  inventor  of  the 
steam  engine  ;  and  he  got  his  first  notions  of  the  power 
of  steam  from  his  aunt's  tea  kettle. 


TWO    GREAT    INVENTORS.  167 

When  he  grew  up,  Watt  settled  in  Glasgow.  A  small 
engine  was  sent  to  him  for  repair.  He  spent  some  time 
on  it,  only  to  discover  its  faults  ;  at  best  it  was  but  a 
toy,  and  was  of  little  or  no  real  use. 

Watt  resolved  to  make  a  useful  steam  engine.  He 
spent  ten  years  on  it  —  years  of  planning  and  experi- 
menting, years  of  doubt  and  fear,  of  distress  and  pov- 
erty, but  also  of  hope  and  high  courage ;  and  at  last 
he  succeeded  to  the  utmost  that  he  could  have  wished. 
Then  he  met  with  a  rich  merchant  who  saw  the  value  of 
the  invention,  and  joined  with  Watt  in  setting  up  near 
Birmingham  the  first  great  engine  factory  in  the  world. 

The  story  is  told  that  once  upon  a  time  Watt  took  a 
working  model  of  his  engine  to  show  to  the  king.  His 
majesty  said  to  him,  "  Well,  my  man,  what  have  you  to 
sell  ?  "  The  inventor  promptly  replied,  "  W7hat  kings 
covet,  may  it  please  your  majesty,  —  power  !"  The  story 
is  perhaps  too  good  to  be  true,  but  the  fact  that  Watt 
furnished  the  world  with  a  "  power,"  far-reaching  in  its 
results,  cannot  be  denied. 

The  effect  of  the  invention  of  the  engine  on  mining 
and  manufactures  was  enormous.  The  brains  of  other 
men  were  busily  planning  all  sorts  of  things  in  order 
to  take  advantage  of  it  to  the  utmost. 

Within  twenty  years  after  Watt  had  finished  his 
engine,  Arkwright  had  made  his  spinning  machine, 
Crompton  had  invented  his  spinning-jenny,  and  Cart- 
wright's  power-loom  weaving  machine  had  started  the 


1 68  .  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

cotton  manufacture  on  its  wonderful  career.  Other 
inventions  followed,  and  in  course  of  time  England  was 
called  "  the  workshop  of  the  world." 

But  the  greatest  of  all  the  uses  of  the  steam  engine 
is  in  vessels  and  railroads.  The  first  steamship  in 
Great  Britain  was  the  "  Comet,"  which  plied  on  the  river 
Clyde  in  1812  ;  although  Robert  Fulton  in  this  country 
had  invented  a  steamboat  in  1807.  The  first  success- 
ful "  steam  horse,"  or  locomotive  engine,  in  the  world 
was  made  by  George  Stephenson,  who  also  planned 
and  made  the  first  public  railroads  ever  built  in  Eng- 
land or  in  the  world. 

George  Stephenson  was  the  son  of  a  poor  collier  in 
the  north  of  England.  When  a  young  man  he  became 
a  fireman  like  his  father.  He  taught  himself  mathe- 
matics during  the  night  shifts ;  and  when  he  could 
snatch  a  few  moments  in  the  time  allowed  for  meals 
during  the  day,  he  worked  his  problems  with  a  bit  of 
chalk  upon  the  sides  of  the  colliery  wagons. 

But  Stephenson  had  a  wonderful  genius  for  machine- 
making,  and  very  soon  he  became  master  of  the  steam 
engine.  He  became  famous  in  his  neighborhood  as  an 
u  engine  doctor."  When  anything  went  wrong  with  a 
steam  engine,  George  Stephenson  was  the  man  to  put  it 
right.  While  he  was  engineer  at  a  colliery  near  New- 
castle, the  idea  occurred  to  him  of  making  a  "steam 
horse "  to  draw  the  cars  of  coal  from  the  pit  to  the 
wharf  where  ships  were  loaded. 


TWO    GREAT    INVENTORS.  169 

He  tried  and  tried  and  tried  again,  and  succeeded 
at  last  in  making,  in  1814,  an  engine;  and  because  it 
made  such  a  noise  it  was  popularly  known  as  "  Puffing 
Billy."  It  was  a  rude  and  clumsy  piece  of  work. 
Fifteen  years  later  Stephenson  turned  out  the  "  Rocket," 
which  ran  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  or  even  thirty-five 
rniles  an  hour. 

This  invention  began  a  new  era  in  the  world's  his- 
tory. From  it  dates  the  marvelous  spread  of  railroads 
over  Great  Britain,  over  the  continents  of  Europe  and 
America,  and  indeed  over  the  world.  It  has  brought 
distant  countries  together,  and  has  increased  a  hundred- 
fold the  knowledge  and  comfort  of  mankind. 

We  must  remember  that  these  great  blessings  have 
been  the  result  of  victories  won,  not  by  conquerors  on 
the  battlefield,  but  by  heroes  of  peace, —  the  Scotchman 
James  Watt  and  the  Englishman  George  Stephenson. 


38.     HOW  VICTORIA   BECAME   QUEEN  OF  GREAT   BRITAIN. 

Victoria  became  Queen  in  the  Year  1837. 

KING  WILLIAM  the  Fourth  died  in  the  year  1837, 
without  leaving  any  children.  The  nearest  heir  to 
the  throne  of  England  was  his  niece,  a  young  princess 
named  Victoria.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  of 
Kent.  When  William  the  Fourth  died,  it  became  the 
duty  of  two  noblemen  to  go.  to  the  young  princess  and 
tell  her  that  she  was  now  queen  of  the  British  Empire. 

Accordingly,  two  men  of  high  rank  drove  from  Wind- 
sor to  Kensington  Palace,  where  the  young  princess 
was  living.  They  left  Windsor  at  half  past  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  2oth  of  June,  and  did  not  reach 
Kensington  till  five.  It  was  still  early,  and  not  a  soul  was 
stirring.  They  knocked  and  rang  for  a  long  time  before 
they  were  able  to  rouse  the  porter  at  the  palace  gate. 

When  at  length  they  had  awakened  him,  the  gate 
was  opened ;  but  they  were  still  kept  waiting  in  the 
courtyard.  Then  they  were  shown  into  one  of  the 
lower  rooms.  No  one  came  near  them  for  some  time, 
and  they  seemed  to  have  been  forgotten  by  everybody. 
At  length  they  rang  the  bell.  When  the  servant  came 
they  asked  him  to  let  the  Princess  Victoria  know  that 
they  wished  to  see  her  on  business  of  the  greatest 
importance. 


PRINCESS    VICTORIA    LEARNS    OF    HER    UNCLE'S    DEATH    AND   THAT   SHE 
IS    QUEEN    OF    ENGLAND. 


172  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Again  they  were  left  for  some  time,  and  again  they 
rang.  One  of  the  ladies  of  the  palace  came  to  them. 
She  told  them  that  the  princess  was  in  such  a  sweet 
sleep  that  she  could  not  venture  to  disturb  her.  To 
this  they  replied,  "  We  are  come  on  business  of  state  to 
the  princess,  and  even  her  sleep  must  give  way  to  that." 

The  princess,  now  the  queen,  was  roused.  She  at  least 
did  not  keep  the  gentlemen  waiting.  For  in  a  few  min- 
utes she  came  down  to  them,  in  a  loose  white  dress  and 
shawl,  her  hair  falling  over  her  shoulders,  tears  in  her 
eyes,  but  perfectly  calm.  She  was  told  the  news.  It 
was  a  great  grief  to  her  to  hear  of  the  death  of  her 
uncle  ;  it  was  no  joy  to  know  that  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain  was  now  her  own. 

The  king  died  at  twenty  minutes  past  two  in  the 
morning,  and  the  young  queen  met  her  council  in 
Kensington  Palace  at  eleven.  She  was  quite  plainly 
dressed  and  in  mourning.  Nothing  could  have  been 
better  than  her  calm  and  kind  manner.  She  was  only 
a  girl  of  eighteen,  and  every  one  was  eager  to  know' 
how  she  would  behave. 

On  entering  the  council  room  she  bowed  to  the  lords, 
took  her  seat,  and  read  her  speech  in  a  clear,  distinct 
voice.  There  was  no  sign  of  fear  or  hurry  in  her  face 
or  in  her  manner.  When  her  two  uncles,  both  old 
men,  knelt  before  her,  she  blushed  up  to  the  eyes. 
Her  manner  to  them  was  very  graceful  and  engaging. 
She  kissed  them  both,  rose  from  her  chair,  and  walked 


HOW    VICTORIA    BECAME    QUEEN. 


173 


up  to  the  Duke  of  Sussex,  who  was  farthest  from  her 
and  too  weak  to  go  to  her. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington,  whom  we  have  just  read  of 
as  the  "  Iron  Duke,"  said,  in  his  blunt  way,  that  if  she 


QUEEN    VICTORIA   VISITING    THE    POOR. 

had  been  his  own  daughter,  he  could  not  have  desired 
to  see  her  do  her  part  better. 

The  people  soon  came  to  be  very  fond  of  their  girl 
queen.  No  sovereign  of  Britain  has  ever  ruled  better 
than  Queen  Victoria,  nor  has  the  vast  empire  of  Britain 
ever  been  more  prosperous  than  it  has  been  under  her  rule. 


174  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

A  year  after  she  came  to  the  throne,  she  was  publicly 
crowned  at  Westminster  Abbey.  All  the  great  officers 
of  state  were  there,  and  so  were  the  noblemen  of  Eng- 
land and  many  famous  strangers.  The  walls  were  hung 
with  crimson  cloth  with  gold  edges,  and  many  of  the 
people  present  were  splendidly  dressed  ;  it  was  a  very 
grand  sight. 

When  the  crown  was  placed  on  the  young  queen's  head, 
all  shouted,  "  God  save  the  Queen  !  "  Hats  and  hand- 
kerchiefs were  waved,  trumpets  were  blown,  and  signals 
were  made  so  that  guns  might  be  fired  in  different 
parts  of  London.  For  some  days  afterwards  there  was 
great  rejoicing,  and  all  the  people  showed  how  fond  they 
were  of  their  new  sovereign.  Their  love  for  her  has 
gone  on  increasing  ever  since,  and  Queen  Victoria  was 
never  more  beloved  than  she  is  at  the  present  day. 

When  the  queen  is  in  London  she  lives  at  Bucking- 
ham Palace  ;  but  she  has  several  homes  in  the  country, 
at  which  she  spends  a  great  part  of  the  year. 

Though  the  people  see  the  queen  but  seldom,  she 
works  day  by  day  for  their  good.  She  has  always  main- 
tained the  laws  of  the  land,  and  observed  them  strictly 
herself.  She  has  been  influenced  by  the  advice  of  the 
wisest  men,  whom  the  nation  has  chosen  to  make  the 
laws  in  Parliament. 

So  the  English  people  love  her  now  just  as  much  as 
they  did  sixty  years  ago,  and  still  go  on  singing  with 
all  their  hearts,  "  God  save  the  Queen  ! " 


39.     HOW   THEY  FOUGHT  IN  THE   CRIMEA. 

From  1854  to  1856. 

RUSSIA  and  Turkey  are  neighbors:  Russia  strong 
and  overbearing,  Turkey  poor  and  weak.  Now, 
though  Russia  is  the  largest  country  in  Europe,  she 
has  never  been  contented  with  her  millions  of  acres,  but 
has  always  longed  for  a  share  of  the  land  of  the  Sultan. 

In  1854  Russia  picked  a  quarrel  with  Turkey,  and 
forced  her  to  fight.  The  English  and  the  French  came 
to  the  help  of  the  weaker  power  and  sent  an  army  to 
the  Crimea,  a  part  of  Russia  which  runs  out  into  the 
Black  Sea,  and  which  is  very  near  Turkey.  The  two 
armies  met  for  the  first  time  on  the  banks  of  the  river 
Alma. 

Here  a  great  battle  was  fought.  The  French  and  the 
English  dashed  into  the  stream  and  crossed  it,  in  spite 
of  the  terrible  hail  of  Russian  bullets  which  poured 
from  the  heights,  and  which,  says  an  eye  witness, 
"whipped  the  water  of  the  river  into  foam."  The 
heights  were  taken,  the  Russians  were  driven  away, 
and  fell  back  upon  Sebastopol. 

The  siege  of  Sebastopol,  one  of  the  strongest  fortresses 
in  the  world,  now  began.  The  allies  seized  the  port  of 
Balaklava,  and  there  they  landed  men  and  arms  and  all 
kinds  of  supplies.  The  Russians  tried  to  drive  them  out, 


STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

and  the  battle  of  Balaklava  was  fought.  This  is  the 
battle  in  which  the  famous  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade 
was  made.  A  wrong  order  was  given,  but  nobody 
knows  to  this  day  who  made  the  mistake. 

The  six  hundred  men  of  the  Light  Brigade  were  told 
to  make  a  charge  right  up  to  the  mouth  of  the  Russian 
cannon. 

"  Half  a  league,  half  a  league, 
Half  a  league  onward, 
All  in  the  valley  of  Death 

Rode  the  six  hundred. 
1  Forward,  the  Light  Brigade  ! 
Charge  for  the  guns  ! '  he  said  ; 
Into  the  valley  of  Death 

Rode  the  six  hundred." 

Officers  and  men  all  knew  quite  well  that  such  an 
order  ought  not  to  have  been  given  ;  but  that  did  not 
matter.  They  also  knew  that  their  duty  was  only  to 
obey.  Not  a  man  flinched.  They  rode  gallantly  up 
to  the  deadly  cannon  ;  and  when  they  returned  from 
the  charge,  less  than  half  their  number  were  living. 
They  had  taken  neither  guns  nor  prisoners,  but  their 
heroic  courage  has  made  their  charge  one  of  the  most 
memorable  in  the  annals  of  war. 

The  next  battle  that  took  place  was  the  battle  of 
Inkermann.  It  was  called  the  "  soldiers'  battle  "  because 
there  was  very  little  movement  of  troops  in  it  —  very 
little  else  but  hand-to-hand  fighting.  When  the  soldiers 
had  used  all  their  shot,  they  took  up  stones  and  threw 


HOW    THEY    FOUGHT    IN    THE    CRIMEA. 


177 


them  at  the  enemy ;  and  English  and  the  Russians 
were  mixed  up  in  such  dense  crowds  that  the  men  had 
to  use  the  butt  ends  of  their  muskets. 

Worse  than  any  battle  was  the  hard  Crimean  winter. 


THE   CHARGE   OF   THE    LIGHT    BRIGADE. 


The  men  suffered  terribly  from  cold,  hunger,  and  want 
of  proper  clothing  ;  and  six  times  as  many  men  died  of 
disease  as  of  wounds. 

At  home  things  were  in  great  confusion.     The  Eng- 
lish government  was  not  ready  to  carry  on  a  war.     Raw 


178  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

coffee  was  sent  out,  but  no  machines  for  roasting  it ; 
a  shipload  of  boots  arrived --all  made  for  the  left 
foot;  the  sick  men  were  sent  to  one  place  and  the 
medicine  to  another. 

For  a  long  time  there  was  nobody  to  look  properly 
after  the  sick  men.  All  this  was  in  time  made  right ; 
for  by  and  by  a  good  and  noble  English  lady,  whose 
name  was  Florence  Nightingale,  heard  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  soldiers,  and  went  out  to  the  Crimea  herself 
with  nurses  to  tend  the  sick  soldiers.  Her  skill  and 
care  saved  many  a  brave  man's  life,  and  the  men  in 
the  sick  wards  blessed  her  as  she  went  by  their  beds. 

"  Dying  men,"  said  an  officer,  "  sat  up  to  catch  the 
sound  of  her  footstep  or  the  flutter  of  her  dress,  and  fell 
back  on  the  pillow  content  to  have  seen  her  shadow  as 
it  passed."  You  may  imagine  how  the  poor  soldiers  — 
and  indeed  all  England  and  this  country,  too,  for  that 
matter  —  loved  her. 

Sebastopol  was  taken  in  the  year  1855,  and  peace 
was  made  the  year  after.  More  than  six  hundred 
thousand  men  lost  their  lives,  and  probably  more  than 
a  million  widows  and  orphans  were  made  such  by  this 
cruel  war. 


40.     THE   STORY  OF  THE   MUTINY  IN   INDIA. 

In  the  Year  1857. 

ENGLAND  has  gone  through  many  troubles  and 
dangers,  and  has  weathered  many  a  storm  ;  but 
perhaps  the  most  terrible  danger  she  ever  faced  was 
the  mutiny  in  India,  which  broke  out  in  the  year  1857. 

India  is  the  largest  and  most  thickly  peopled  of  the 
British  foreign  possessions,  and  a  large  army  is  needed 
to  keep  it  in  order. 

Forty  years  ago  there  were  not  English  soldiers 
enough  for  the  Indian  army,  and  so  the  home  govern- 
ment was  forced  to  hire  native  troops.  These  troops 
are  called  Sepoys.  The  Sepoys  are  men  of  various 
religions.  One  of  their  religions  teaches  its  followers 
that  the  cow  is  a  sacred  animal,  and  another  teaches 
that  all  good  men  ought  to  detest  the  pig. 

Now  the  enemies  of  England  went  secretly  to  see 
these  men,  and  to  some  they  said  that  the  cartridges 
they  used  were  greased  with  the  fat  of  the  cow,  while 
to  the  men  of  the  other  religion  they  whispered  that 
swine's  fat  had  been  employed.  The  Sepoys  were  very 
angry  and  rose  against  their  officers. 

Whether  the  greased  cartridges  were  the  real  reason 
for  their  mutiny  is  not  very  certain ;  perhaps  there  were 
other  causes.  They  not  only  rose  against  their  officers, 


l8o  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

but  they  murdered  every  English  man,  woman,  and 
child. 

At  Cawnpore,  General  Wheeler  was  shut  up  with  a 
few  hundred  men  and  more  than  five  hundred  women 
and  children  in  a  hospital,  round  which  ran  a  low  mud 
wall.  The  rebels  surrounded  this  place  and  poured  in 
upon  the  English  residents  a  fire  of  bullets  day  and 
night.  From  the  hour  the  siege  began,  the  suffering 
and  the  courage  of  the  -English  were  incredible.  There 
was  no  roof  between  the  gallant  defenders  and  the 
scorching  sun  ;  the  shadow  cast  by  the  low  mud  wall 
was  but  a  narrow  line. 

There  was  only  one  well,  and  it  was  a  target  for  the 
Sepoys.  The  heroes  who  dared  to  draw  water  did  so 
at  the  risk  of  their  lives  ;  those  who  returned  were  few. 
At  last  hunger  did  what  the  enemy  never  could  have 
done.  Finally  the  leaders  of  the  Sepoys  offered  to  let 
General  Wheeler  and  his  company  go  in  safety  down  the 
river  Ganges,  if  he  would  only  give  up  his  guns,  arms, 
and  treasure.  He  agreed ;  and  the  English,  leaving 
their  arms,  were  marched  down  to  the  boats. 

No  sooner  had  they  entered  the  boats  than  the 
Sepoys  opened  fire  upon  them.  Many  of  the  English 
were  killed  ;  the  rest  were  taken  back  to  Cawnpore, 
where  the  men  were  put  to  death,  and  the  women  and 
children  shut  up  in  one  large  room.  Then  some  Sepoys 
were  sent  in  with  sabres,  and  these  wretches  put  every 
one  of  the  women  and  children  to  death. 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    MUTINY    IN    INDIA.  l8l 

In  Lucknow,  a  city  in  the  north  of  India,  the  British 
governor  saw  that  the  natives  were  going  to  attack  his 
people.  He  put  the  women  and  children  into  the 
Residency,  as  the  chief  fortress  in  an  Indian  city  is 
called.  The  soldiers  had  fortified  this  place,  and  were 
determined  to  die  rather  than  let  the  Sepoys  do  any 
harm  to  their  wives  or  little  ones. 

The  natives  in  great  numbers  attacked  the  fortress 
again  and  again,  but  were  always  driven  back.  Still 
it  was  a  fearful  time  for  the  English.  For  they  knew 
that  if  these  terrible  crowds  of  cruel  natives  outside 
could  once  get  into  the  place,  they  would  kill  all  the 
English  without  mercy.  For  four  months  they  held 
out,  while  disease,  hunger,  sorrow,  and  fatigue  were 
preying  upon  the  soldiers  and  their  wives  and  children 
within  the  fortress. 

Every  one,  from  Sir  Henry  Lawrence,  the  governor, 
down  to  the  humblest  drummer-boy,  showed  the  utmost 
patience  and  courage.  Sir  Henry  was  killed  by  the 
bursting  of  a  shell  in  the  room  in  which  he  was  sitting. 

As  he  lay  dying,  his  parting  words  to  his  friends 
were,  "  Mind  :  never  give  up  ;  but  let  every  man  die  at 
his  post."  He  knew  well  the  cruel  enemy  they  had  to 
deal  with. 

The  great  and  good  General  Havelock,  after  fighting 
twelve  battles  on  his  march,  at  last  cut  his  way  into 
Lucknow  and  saved  the  little  garrison.  But  Havelock's 
force  was  too  small  to  drive  away  the  Sepoys  and  to  put 


1 82  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

down  the  revolt ;  and  he  in  his  turn  was  soon  shut  up 
by  a  much  larger  force  of  the  rebels. 

Sir  Colin  Campbell,  afterwards  known  as  Lord  Clyde, 
was  sent  from  England  to  help  him.  When  this  gallant 
English  general  was  asked  in  London  when  he  would 
be  ready  to  start  for  India,  —  which  is  three  thousand 
miles  away,  —  he  quietly  replied,  "  To-morrow." 

The  English  people  within  the  fortress  were  soon 
reduced  to  terrible  straits,  with  .an  awful  death  hanging 
over  their  heads.  At  length  Sir  Colin  Campbell,  with 
a  large  British  army,  brought  them  all  away  safely 
after  they  had  been  shut  up  for  nearly  four  months. 

It  is  said  that  a  Scottish  girl,  by  the  name  of  Jessie 
Brown,  was  the  first  to  recognize  amid  the  din  of  battle, 
the  shrill  sound  of  the  bagpipes  of  the  Highland  sol- 
diers, which  told  the  besieged  that  their  deliverers  were 
near.  Jessie  was  presented  to  the  general  on  his 
entrance  into  the  fort,  and  at  the  officers'  banquet  her 
health  was  drunk  by  all  present,  while  the  pipers 
marched  around  the  table  playing  the  familiar  air  of 
"Auld  Lang  Syne." 

The  relief  of  Lucknow  was  the  last  great  event  in  the 
Indian  mutiny,  as  this  rebellion  was  called,  and  soon 
after  the  British  rule  was  established  there  more  firmly 
than  ever  before. 


41.     BRITAIN,    THEN   AND   NOW. 

In  the  Year  1897. 

MANY,  many  hundreds  of  years  ago,  England,  as 
we  learned  in  the  first  story  of  this  book,  was 
inhabited  by  a  half-savage  race  of  people  called  Britons. 
When  the  great  Roman  general  Julius  Caesar  came  to 
Britain  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago,  he  found  these 
people  in  it.  He  has  told  us  in  a  diary  he  kept,  that 
they  were  a  race  of  strong,  well-built,  and  hardy  men, 
swift  as  deer  on  foot,  and  brave  and  fearless  as  their 
own  wild  cattle. 

They  knew  neither  how  to  spin  nor  to  weave,  and 
their  common  dress  was  made  of  the  skins  of  the  ani- 
mals that  roamed  through  the  wild  and  pathless  forests. 
They  spent  most  of  their  time  in  fishing  and  hunting. 
With  their  light  basket  canoes  slung  across  their  shoul- 
ders, they  could  travel  from  lake  to  lake,  or  from  river 
to  river. 

Above  and  around  circled  the  various  birds  which 
had  their  homes  in  the  forest.  In  the  wilder  parts  flew 
the  golden  eagle — king  over  all  the  birds  in  the  air ; 
and  by  the  seaside,  the  osprey.  A  wolf  might  be  lying 
in  wait  by  the  side  of  the  path,  or  the  more  savage 
brown  bear  might  be  out  in  search  of  prey. 

How  changed  is  everything  now  !     The  forests  have 


184  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

been  cleared  away,  and  their  place  is  now  filled  by  fields 
of  grass  or  waving  grain.  The  country  is  now  studded 
with  large  cities,  which  are  full  of  busy,  well-dressed 
people,  living  at  peace  with  each  other  and  obedient 
to  the  laws.  Where  once  the  ancient  Briton  paddled 
about  in  his  hide-covered  canoe,  countless  steamers  and 
sailing  vessels  now  move  to  and  fro. 

London  was  in  those  very  early  times  a  mere  village  ; 
now  it  is  one  of  the  largest  and  richest  cities  in  the 
world.  Its  houses  cover  many,  many  square  miles,  and 
it  has  more  people  living  in  it  than  there  are  in  even 
such  a  large  state  as  Ohio  or  Illinois. 

There  were  then  no  roads  ;  at  best  there  were  only 
narrow  footpaths  through  the  forests  or  across  the 
moors.  A .  slow  and  toilsome  journey  on  horseback 
was  the  quickest  way  of  getting  from  one  place  to 
another.  Now  one  can  travel  by  the  steam  cars  at 
the  rate  of  sixty  or  more  miles  an  hour. 

The  English  people  are  known  all  over  the  world  as 
makers  of  cotton,  woolen,  and  many  other  staple  goods, 
and  as  sellers  of  glass,  china,  ironware,  and  countless 
other  articles  of  trade.  These  goods  are  sent  out  in 
sailing  vessels  and  great  steamships  to  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  tea  and  coffee,  sugar  and  rice,  grain  and 
timber  are  brought  back. 

Thus  the  English  people  live  in  peace  and  prosperity 
under  the  rule  of  their  gracious  queen.  Never  since 
the  time  of  King  John,  more  than  six  hundred  years 


BRITAIN,    THEN    AND    NOW.  185 

ago,  has  the  foot  of  a  foreign  foe  touched  the  soil  of 
Britain.  Shakespeare  thus  alludes  to  England  in  his 
play  of  "  King  Richard  the  Second  " : 

"  This  royal  throne  of  kings,  this  scepter'd  isle, 
This  earth  of  majesty,  this  seat  of  Mars. 
.     this  little  world  ; 

This  precious  stone  set  in  the  silver  sea, 
Which  serves  it  in  the  office  of  a  wall." 

But  it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  it  has  been 
through  the  labors  and  sufferings  of  many  good,  brave 
men  and  women,  that  a  nation  which  began  as  England 
did  is  now  one  of  the  richest  and  most  prosperous  in 
the  world. 

For  more  than  eighty  years  England  and  the  United 
States,  the  great  English-speaking  nations  of  the  world, 
have  lived  in  peace.  On  the  threshold  of  the  twentieth 
century  these  two  great  peoples  are,  more  firmly  than 
ever  before,  united  by  the  strong  ties  which  bind  nations 
together  for  the  good  of  humanity. 

We  have  come  to  the  end  of  our  stories.  We  hope 
you  have  read  them  with  interest  and  pleasure.  We 
trust  that  by  the  reading  of  this  little  book  your  appetite 
will  be  whetted  to  read,  when  you  are  older,  longer  and 
more  complete  works.  Next  to  reading  the  history  of 
our  own  beloved  country,  nothing  in  the  shape  of 
history  can  be  more  interesting  and  more  useful  than 
that  of  our  mother  country. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTES. 


BOOKS    FOR    REFERENCE    AND    COLLATERAL    READING. 

THE  real  significance  and  scope  of  supplementary  reading  in  schools 
would  be  lost  to  the  teacher  who  was  satisfied  with  merely  having  read  with 
the  class  the  preceding  "  stories  "  of  English  history.  This  book  should 
serve  only  as  a  convenient  and  interesting  basis  for  more  extended  work 
both  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  the  pupils. 

Books  for  collateral  reading,  study,  and  reference  may  be  divided  con- 
veniently into  two  classes.  First,  a  class  of  books  useful  for  reading  and 
reference  which  are  well  provided  with  tables,  indexes,  maps,  tables  of 
dates,  etc.  Second,  a  class  of  books  that  are  not  provided  with  these  formal 
helps,  but  are  useful  for  pupils  to  read  and  consult  at  home  on  topics  pre- 
viously assigned. 

The  ablest  and  most  useful  book  of  the  first  class  is  Montgomery's 
"  Leading  Facts  of  English  History"  (price,  $1.12).  This  work  is  deeply 
interesting  and  amply  provided  with  all  manner  of  helps  to  young  students. 
Gardiner's  "  English  History  for  Schools  "  (price,  80  cents)  is  admirably 
written  and  is  good  authority,  but  has  no  helps  beyond  the  text  itself. 
Gardiner's  larger  work,  "  Student's  History  of  England "  (price,  $3.00), 
is  a  valuable  book,  both  for  its  text  and  illustrations,  especially  for  the 
teacher's  use.  Green's  "  Short  History  of  the  English  People  "  (one  vol- 
ume, price,  $1.20)  is  also  noted  for  its  brilliant  and  interesting  style,  and 
is  a  useful  reference  book  for  teachers. 

Of  books  belonging  to  the  second  class,  one  of  the  best  known  and  always 
interesting  to  young  people  is  Dickens'  "  Child's  History  of  England."  It 
still  retains  its  popularity  with  young  readers  from  the  charm  and  vividness 
of  its  style.  Three  other  books  should  be  always  at  hand  for  quick  refer- 
ence for  topical  study  :  Yonge's  "  Young  Folks'  History  of  England," 


1 88  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Towle's  "  Young  People's  History  of  England,"  and  Louise  Creighton's 
"  Stories  from  English  History."  Two  recent  volumes  by  A.  J.  Church, 
entitled  "  Stories  from  English  History,"  are  valuable  for  a  limited  portion 
of  English  history. 

Two  or  more  of  the  preceding  works  are  amply  sufficient  to  provide  both 
teacher  and  pupil  with  the  basal  books  necessary  for  school  or  home  use,  in 
connection  with  an  elementary  course  in  English  history. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  other  books  suitable  for  young  readers  which 
will  be  enjoyed,  but  which  are  not  always  so  accessible  as  the  books  just 
mentioned.  Among  these  are  Callcott's  "  Little  Arthur's  History  of  Eng- 
land," Oilman's  "  Magna  Charta  Stories,"  "  Cameos  of  English  History," 
and  Agnes  Strickland's  "  Tales  from  English  History." 

The  famous  "  Henty  "  books  are  of  a  somewhat  sensational  character, 
but  based  upon  historic  events,  and  may  be  occasionally  and  sparingly  read 
in  selections  by  the  teacher  to  the  class.  They  are  admirable  heroic 
romances,  and  present  great  events  and  famous  men  in  so  dramatic  and  so 
picturesque  a  light  that  this  author  is  a  great  favorite  with  boys.  Among 
the  "  Henty  "  books  devoted  to  English  history  the  following  are  the  best  : 
"  Wulf  the  Saxon,"  a  story  of  the  Norman  Conquest;  "When  London 
Burned,"  a  story  of  Restoration  times  and  the  Great  Fire  ;  "  Beric  the 
Briton,"  a  story  of  the  Roman  Invasion  ;  "  Under  Drake's  Flag";  "Bonnie 
Prince  Charlie";  "With  Clive  in  India";  "One  of  the  28th,"  a  tale  of 
Waterloo  ;  "  The  Dragon  and  the  Raven,  or  The  Days  of  King  Alfred  "  ; 
and  "  St.  George  for  England,"  a  tale  of  Crecy  and  Poitiers. 

Story  No.  I,  page  I.  —  Probably  the  most  interesting  and  picturesque 
description  ever  written  of  England  in  the  olden  days  from  the  time  of  the 
Druids  to  the  Norman  Conquest  is  given  in  Miller's  "  History  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons."  It  is  a  work  little  known,  but  may  be  found  in  Bohn's  Standard 
Library.  No  better  book  could  be  used  from  which  to  make  select  read- 
ings for  the  first  eleven  "  stories  "  of  this  book. 

Story  No.  4,  page  13.  —  Read  Cowper's  poem  entitled  "Boadicea" 
("Open  Sesame,"  vol.  ii,  p.  116). 

NOTE.  —  "  Open  Sesame."  This  is  the  name  of  a  work  of  about  one  thousand 
pieces  of  choicest  prose  and  verse,  compiled  by  Mrs.  B.  W.  Bellamy  and  Mrs.  M.  W. 
Goodwin.  3  volumes.  Price  of  each  volume,  cloth,  75  cents  ;  boards,  50  cents. 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES.  189 

Story  No.  8,  page  31.  —  For  a  series  of  historical  books  written  many 
years  ago,  especially  for  children,  the  author  would  recommend  most  heart- 
ily the  little  red-covered  histories  by  Jacob  Abbott  and  his  brother,  John  S. 
C.  Abbott.  Six  or  more  are  devoted  to  English  kings  and  queens.  Read 
in  connection  with  this  topic  Abbott's  "  Life  of  Alfred  the  Great." 

Story  No.  II,  page  47.  —  Read  Bulwer's  "  King  Harold's  Speech  to  his 
Soldiers"  ("Open  Sesame,"  vol.  ii,  p.  in)  and  "Norman  Battle  Song" 
("Open  Sesame,"  vol.  i,  p.  195).  Read  Abbott's  "Life  of  William  the 
Conqueror."  Read  in  connection  with  this  lesson  selections  from  chapters 
i  and  iii,  of  Scott's  "Ivanhoe";  also  Longfellow's  "The  Norman  Baron." 

Story  No.  12,  page  53.  —  A  charming  description  of  the  New  Forest  in 
the  times  of  Cromwell  and  the  Cavaliers  and  the  stirring  events  of  those 
days  is  given  in  Maryatt's  "  Children  of  the  New  Forest." 

Story  No.  13,  page  57.  —  Read  an  extract  from  Rev.  J.  White's  drama 
on  the  "  Wreck  of  the  White  Ship,"  found  in  Knight's  "  Half  Hours  of 
English  History."  In  this  work  may  be  found,  conveniently  arranged  for 
ready  reference,  a  dozen  or  more  extracts  from  the  best  writers  to  illustrate 
most  of  the  "  stories  "  in  this  book. 

Story  No.  15,  page  66.  —  A  most  interesting  and  dramatic  account  of  the 
adventures  of  Richard  the  Lion-hearted  is  given  in  "  The  Talisman  "  and 
"  Ivanhoe,"  two  of  the  best  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's  novels.  In  the  former 
work  is  a  fine  description  both  of  Saladin  and  Richard.  In  the  latter  book, 
in  the  opening  chapters,  may  be  found  a  vivid  account  of  the  everyday  life 
of  the  Saxons  and  of  the  manner  in  which  knights  fought  in  the  olden  days. 
Read  the  poem  "  BlondelPs  Song  under  the  Prison  Window "  ("  Open 
Sesame,"  vol.  ii,  p.  145). 

Story  No.  16,  page  72.  —  For  another  version  of  the  death  of  little 
Prince  Arthur  the  teacher  may  read  to  the  class  the  account  as  given  in 
Shakespeare's  "  King  John,"  act  iv,  scene  i.  In  fact  the  teacher  will  be 
able  to  find  in  Shakespeare's  historical  plays  many  passages  which  will  afford 
most  interesting  reading.  For  illustration  read  the  famous  reference  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  in  "Henry  VIII,"  act  v,  scene  4  ;  Falstaff  and  Prince  Hal 
in  "  Henry  IV,"  act  ii,  scene  4 ;  and  the  death  of  King  John  in  "  King  John," 
act  v,  scenes  6,  7.  The  teacher  will  find  in  Henry  Reed's  "  Lectures  on 
English  History  "  and  Warner's  "  English  History  in  Shakespeare's  Plays  " 
two  excellent  books  for  reference. 


I QO  STORIES    FROM    ENGLISH    HISTORY. 

Story  No.  20,  page  92. —  Read  Dray  ton's  "  Battle  of  Agincourt  "  (Open 
Sesame,"  vol.  iii,  p.  235). 

Story  No.  25,  page  112.  —  Read  Bulwer's  translation  of  Schiller's  "  In- 
vincible Armada"  ("  Open  Sesame,"  vol.  iii,  p.  228),  Palgrave's  "  Elizabeth 
at  Tilbury"  ("Open  Sesame,"  vol.  iii,  p.  230),  and  "Elizabeth's  Speech  to 
the  Army  at  Tilbury  "  ("  Open  Sesame,"  vol.  iii,  p.  232). 

Story  No.  26,  page  1 18.  —  This  incident  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  gallant 
deed  is  fully  described  in  Scott's  "  Kenilworth,"  chapter  xv.  In  this  great 
historical  novel  are  given  vivid  pictures  and  descriptions  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
and  the  great  men  of  her  time.  Scott's  "  Abbot  "  relates  to  the  history  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots.  This  is  a  most  interesting  book  from  which  to  select 
a  few  choice  readings  in  connection  with  the  story  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Read  Abbott's  "  Life  of  Queen  Elizabeth  "  and  also  his  "  Life  of  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots." 

Story  No.  27,  page  125. —  Read  Bowies'  poem  "On  the  Funeral  of 
Charles  I  "  ("  Open  Sesame,"  vol.  iii,  p.  217).  Read  Abbott's  "Life  of 
Charles  I." 

Story  No.  28,  page  130.  —  A  few  select  readings  may  be  arranged  from 
Scott's  "Woodstock"  for  a  masterly  account  of  Cromwell,  Charles  II,  and 
the  Cavaliers  and  Roundheads  of  those  stirring  times.  Read  Abbott's 
"Life  of  Charles  II." 

Story  No.  30,  page  139. —  For  a  vivid  but  imaginary  account  of  the 
Great  Plague,  the  teacher  may  read  to  the  class  a  few  selections  from 
De  Foe's  "  History  of  the  Great  Plague  in  London." 

Story  No.  33,  page  149.  —  A  recent  work  by  Andrew  L^ng,  known  as 
"  Pickle  the  Spy,  or  The  Incognito  of  Prince  Charles,"  is  full  of  curious 
information  about  this  interesting  episode  in  English  history. 

Story  No.  34,  page  1 54.  —  The  teacher  should  read  to  the  pupils  the 
celebrated  passage  from  Macaulay's  essay  on  "  Lord  Clive,"  which  gives  a 
graphic  picture  of  the  dastardly  deed  beginning  "Now  was  committed  that 
great  crime,"  etc. 

Story  No.  35,  page  157.  —  Read  Mrs.  Hemans'  "Casabianca"  ("Open 
Sesame,"  vol.  i,  p.  181),  "The  Mariners  of  England"  ("Open  Sesame," 
vol.  i,  p.  202),  and  "  Battle  of  the  Baltic  "  ("  Open  Sesame,"  vol.  ii,  p.  79), 
both  poems  by  Thomas  Campbell.  Select  from  Southey's  "  Life  of  Nel- 
son "  some  of  the  incidents  and  anecdotes  in  the  career  of  England's  great- 


SUPPLEMENTARY    NOTES.  I  91 

est  admiral,  and  also  in  the  same  book  the  account  of  Nelson's  death,  a 
masterly  piece  of  English  prose. 

Story  No.  36,  page  161.  —  Read  "Waterloo,"  an  extract  from  Byron's 
"  Childe  Harold  "  ("  Open  Sesame,"  vol.  iii,  p.  246). 

Story  No.  38,  page  1 70.  —  An  instructive  but  informal  exercise  may  be 
arranged  concerning  the  great  events  that  have  taken  place  in  England, 
and  the  world  generally,  since  the  coronation  of  Queen  Victoria  in  1838. 

Story  No.  39,  page  175.  —  In  connection  with  this  story  the  teacher 
should  read  a  few  selections  from  a  recent  novel  by  Mrs.  Steel,  "  On  the 
Face  of  the  Waters,"  which  gives  most  vivid  pen  pictures  of  many  of  the 
great  events  of  the  mutiny.  Read  also  Hope's  "  Story  of  the  Indian 
Mutiny." 

Read  Robert  Lowell's  poem,  "  The  Relief  of  Lucknow  "  ("  Open  Sesame," 
vol.  ii,  p.  66). 

Story  No.  40,  page  1 79.  —  Read  Tennyson's  famous  poem,  "  Charge  of 
the  Light  Brigade"  ("Open  Sesame,"  vol.  i,  p.  192),  and  Gerald  Massey's 
"  Death  Ride"  ("  Open  Sesame,"  vol.  ii,  p.  57). 

Story  No.  41,  page  183 In  connection  with  this  last  "story"  may  be 

arranged  a  most  interesting  and  instructive  informal  discussion  contrasting 
the  wonderful  progress  made  in  all  that  pertains  to  a  higher  civilization 
since  "  Britain  in  the  Old  Days"  as  described  in  the  first  "  story."  There  is 
a  large  amount  of  material  from  which  the  ingenious  teacher  may  draw  for 
class  use. 

A  very  few  dates  may  be  committed  to  memory,  as  the  first  conquest  of 
Caesar,  the  time  of  Alfred,  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  first  English  printer,  etc. 

A  few  of  the  great  names  of  English  literature  should  be  associated  with 
certain  historical  events.  Associate  the  names  of  Chaucer,  Spenser,  Bacon, 
Shakespeare,  Milton,  Goldsmith,  Scott,  Tennyson,  and  others  with  the 
prominent  events  and  men  of  their  times. 

If  copies  of  Knight's  "  Pictorial  History  of  England  "  and  Harper's  new 
edition  of  Green's  large  "  History  of  England  "  can  be  borrowed  or  obtained 
for  reference,  a  vast  amount  of  illustrative  matter  will  be  found  in  them. 

All  such  work  as  we  have  briefly  outlined  in  these  "  Notes "  tends  to 
maintain  the  interest  of  pupils  in  a  study  which  otherwise  may  become  dull 
and  monotonous. 


ADVERTISEMENTS 


READING  BOOKS  ON  AMERICAN  HISTORY 

FOR  SUPPLEMENTARY  USE  IN  SCHOOLS. 


BY    NINA    MOORE    TIFFANY. 

Pilgrims  and  Puritans.  The  Story  of  the  Planting  of  Plymouth  and 
Boston.  Sq.  i6mo.  Cloth.  197  pages.  Illustrated.  For  intro- 
duction, 60  cents. 

From  Colony  to  Commonwealth  :  Stories  of  the  Revolutionary 
Days  in  Boston.  Sq.  i6mo.  Cloth.  180  pages.  Illustrated. 
For  introduction,  60  cents. 

"PILGRIMS  AND  PURITANS"  is  a  book  of  easy  reading,  contain- 
ing sketches  of  the  early  days  of  Massachusetts —  Massachusetts 
Indians,  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth,  English  Boston,  William 
Blackstone,  John  Winthrop,  Extracts  from  Wood's  New  Eng- 
land's Prospects  ;  with  notes  and  appendix. 

It  is  intended  for  children  who  have  not  yet  begun  or  are  just 
beginning  the  study  of  United  States  history,  and  to  supplement 
or  prepare  the  way  for  the  ordinary  text-book.  The  book  has 
been  often  used  by  children  under  ten  years  of  age.  It  is  provided 
with  maps  and  illustrations. 

"FROM  COLONY  TO  COMMONWEALTH"  is  second  in  the  series 
of  which  "Pilgrims  and  Puritans"  is  the  first.  These  two  little 
volumes  are  intended  as  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  United 
States  history  in  school  or  at  home. 


Geo.  H.  Martin,  Supervisor  of  Schools,    I       The  Advance,  Chicago:  This  little  vol- 
Boston:  I  am  delighted  .to  find  a  child's    |    ume,  designed  to  be  a  kind  of  first  lessons 


book  of  history  both  accurate  and  interest- 
ing. It  was  a  happy  thought  of  the  author 
to  incorporate  so  much  of  the  original  into 
the  work. 

F.  Treudley,  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  Youngstoiun,  Ohio :  It  is  a  very 
delightful  little  book,  written  in  a  very 


in  American  history  for  young  readers,  is 
admirably  suited  to  its  purpose. 

Evening  Post,  New  York:  Miss  Nina 
Moore  has,  with  no  little  dexterity,  told  in 
an  attractive  way,  easily  intelligible  to 
children,  "the  story  of  the  planting  of 


interesting  manner,  and  one  of  the  best        Plymouth  and  Boston."     She  has  drawn 
T  know  of  for  children  textually  more  or  less  upon  the  original 

authorities,  and  by  means  of  plenty  of 


Miss  E.  M.  Reed,  Principal  of  Train- 
ing School,  Springfield,  Mass.:  It  is 
charmingly  written,  and  done  in  beautiful 
style.  I  consider  it  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able books  of  its  class. 


maps,  portraits,  and  views,  has  made  the 
narrative  impressive  at  every  stage. 


GINN   &  COMPANY,  Publishers, 

Boston.          New  York.          Chicago.          Atlanta.         Dallas. 


READING  BOOKS  ON  GEOGRAPHY 


Ballou's  Footprints  of  Travel ;  or,  Journeyings  in  Many  Lands. 
By  MATURIN  M.  BALLOU.  370  pages.  Illustrated.  For  intro- 
duction, cloth,  $1.00;  boards,  70  cents. 

A  SUPPLEMENTARY  reading  book  in  real  geography,  combining 
readings  of  the  greatest  interest  ;  information  in  geography  and 
history ;  help  to  make  a  dry  study  enjoyed  ;  and  lessons  in  civili- 
zation and  culture. 

The  purpose  of  this  work  is  to  furnish  a  reader  for  use  in  the 
public  schools  which  shall  at  once  interest  and  instruct  the  pupil. 
The  author  depicts  foreign  countries  and  famous  cities,  describing 
land  and  ocean  travel  all  over  the  world  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
fix  geographical  and  other  facts  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  by 
their  pleasant  association  with  charming  scenery,  historic  events, 
and  vivid  adventures. 

Hall's  Our  World  Reader,  No.  I.  By  MARY  L.  HALL.  Cloth. 
260  pages.  With  new  maps  and  illustrations.  For  introduction, 
50  cents. 

THIS  book  has  been  thoroughly  revised  and  issued  in  form  and 
appearance  as  a  reading  book.  It  has  stood  for  many  years  as 
the  best  elementary  text-book  of  geography,  and  in  this  new  and 
greatly  improved  edition  deserves  to  meet  still  greater  favor  and 
adoption. 

Shaler's  Story  of  Our  Continent.  A  Reading  Book  on  the 
Geography  of  North  America.  By  N.  S.  SHALER,  Professor  of 
Geology  in  Harvard  University.  Cloth.  290  pages.  Illustrated. 
For  introduction,  75  cents. 

Frye's  Brooks  and  Brook  Basins.     Plrst  Steps  in  Geography  — 
Nature  Studies.    By  ALEXIS  E.  FRYE.    Cloth.    119  pages.    Illus- 
trated.    For  introduction,  58  cents. 
THIS  is  a  geographical  reader  and  text-book  for  children,  written 

expressly  for  the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  grades  or  years  in  schools. 

Frye'S  Child  and  Nature.     Geography  Teaching  with  Sand  Model- 
ling.    A   manual   for    teachers.     By  ALEXIS  E.  FRYE.     Cloth. 
210  pages.     Illustrated.      For  introduction,  80  cents. 
THIS  is  the  best  and  almost  the  only  book  on  sand  modelling 

ever  published. 

Frye's  Teachers'  Manual  of  Methods  in  Geography.  By  ALEXIS 
E.  FRYE.  i2mo.  Flexible  cloth.  190  pages.  Illustrated.  For 
introduction,  50  cents. 

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James  Parton,  the  Historian,  called  Jane  Andrews,  the  author  of  these  books,  "the  best 
teacher  in  the  world." 


THE  JANE  ANDREWS  BOOKS 

A  remarkable  series  of  attractive  and  interesting  books  for  young 
people,  —  written  in  a  clear,  easy,  and  picturesque  style.  This  is  the 
famous  Jane  Andrews  series  which  has  been  for  many  years  an  old-time 
favorite  with  young  folks.  Other  juvenile  books  come  and  go,  but  the 
Jane  Andrews  books  maintain  the  irresistible  charm  they  always  have  had. 

THE  SEVEN  LITTLE  SISTERS  WHO  LIVE  ON  THE  ROUND 
BALL  THAT  FLOATS  IN  THE  AIR.  i2mo.  Cloth.  143  pages. 
Illustrated.  For  introduction,  50  cents. 

EACH  AND  ALL;  THE  SEVEN  LITTLE  SISTERS  PROVE  THEIR 
SISTERHOOD.  i2mo.  Cloth.  Illustrated.  162  pages.  For 
introduction,  50  cents. 

THE  STORIES  MOTHER  NATURE  TOLD  HER  CHILDREN.  i2mo. 
Cloth.  Illustrated.  161  pages.  For  introduction,  50  cents. 

TEN  BOYS  WHO  LIVED  ON  THE  ROAD  FROM  LONG  AGO  TO 
NOW.  I2mo.  Cloth.  243  pages.  Illustrated.  For  introduction, 
50  cents. 

GEOGRAPHICAL  PLAYS.  i2mo.  Cloth.  140  pages.  For  Intro- 
duction, 50  cents. 

The  "  Seven  Little  Sisters  "  represent  the  seven  races,  and  the  book 
shows  how  people  live  in  the  various  parts  of  the  world,  what  their 
manners  and  customs  are,  what  the  products  of  each  section  are  and 
how  they  are  interchanged. 

"  Each  and  All "  continues  the  story  of  Seven  Little  Sisters,  and  tells 
more  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  various  races,  especially  in  relation  to 
childhood. 

Dame  Nature  unfolds  in  "  Stories  Mother  Nature  Told  "  some  of  her 
most  precious  secrets.  She  tells  about  the  amber,  about  the  dragon-fly 
and  its  wonderful  history,  about  water-lilies,  how  the  Indian  corn  grows, 
what  queer  pranks  the  Frost  Giants  indulge  in,  about  coral,  and  starfish, 
and  coal  mines,  and  many  other  things  in  which  children  take  delight. 

In  "  Ten  Boys  "  the  History  of  the  World  is  summarized  in  the  stories 
of  Kabla  the  Aryan  boy,  Darius  the  Persian  boy,  Cleon  the  Greek  boy, 
Horatius  the  Roman  boy,  Wulf  the  Saxon  boy,  Gilbert  the  Knight's 
page,  Roger  the  English  boy,  Fuller  the  Puritan  boy,  Dawson  the 
Yankee  boy,  and  Frank  Wilson  the  boy  of  1885. 

In  "  Ten  Boys  "  one  is  struck  with  the  peculiar  excellence  of  its  style,  —  clear,  easy, 
graceful,  and  picturesque,  —  which  a  child  cannot  fail  to  comprehend,  and  in  which 
"  children  of  a  larger  growth  "  will  find  an  irresistible  charm.  —  John  G.  WMttier. 


GINN  &  COMPANY,  Publishers,  Boston,  New  York,  and  Chicago. 


BLAISDELL'S   PHYSIOLOGIES 

By  ALBERT  F.  BLAISDELL,  M.D. 


CHILD'S  BOOK  OF  HEALTH.  In  easy  lessons  for  schools.  Cloth. 
136  pages.  Fully  illustrated.  30  cents. 

HOW  TO  KEEP  WELL.  A  text-book  of  health  for  use  in  the  lower 
grades  of  schools.  Cloth.  241  pages.  Fully  illustrated.  45  cents. 

OUR  BODIES  AND  HOW  WE  LIVE.  An  elementary  text-book  of 
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illustrated.  65  cents. 

PRACTICAL  PHYSIOLOGY.  A  text-book  for  higher  schools.  448 
pages.  Fully  illustrated.  $1.10. 

HOW  TO  TEACH  PHYSIOLOGY.  A  Handbook  for  Teachers.  52  pages.  Illus- 
trated. Paper.  10  cents. 

The  matter  of  the  books  is  fresh  and  to  a  considerable 
extent  new.  Unlike  most  text-books  on  the  subject  these 
are  interesting,  the  language  is  clear,  terse,  and  suggestive. 
Consequently  the  ideas  strike  home  at  once  and  stay  in  the 
memory. 

The  author  combined  qualifications  seldom  found  together 
—  the  natural  teacher,  the  practised  writer,  the  successful 
physician,  and  the  man  of  science. 

Special  emphasis  is  everywhere  laid  upon  what  is  of  prime 
importance  —  personal  care  of  the  health.  The  author  gives 
many  practical  suggestions  growing  out  of  his  medical  expe- 
rience that  cannot  fail  to  be  of  life  benefit  to  the  pupils. 

All  the  important  facts  of  each  chapter  in  the  several 
books  are  illustrated  by  a  systematic  series  of  simple  exper- 
iments which  the  pupil  can  perform  with  little  or  no  outlay 
for  apparatus. 

The  laws  of  most  of  the  states  now  require  in  our  public 
schools  the  study  of  the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  tobacco, 
and  other  narcotics  upon  the  bodily  life.  Dr.  BlaisdelPs 
books  will  be  found  to  comply  fully  with  all  such  laws. 


QINN  &  COMPANY,  Publishers, 

Boston.    New  York.    Chicago.    Atlanta.    Dallas. 


/  V  V\y 

J 


v  c±.       A    A  r\ — if— 
t M---*'       "TT~" 

YC  44075 


